Category: Gospel

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Which Jesus at Christmas?

There are lots of wrong ways to think about Jesus at Christmas, aren’t there? There’s the sentimental Jesus. This is the view that the baby in the manger is just a nice story. We repeat it because it’s part of Christmas folklore. The Jesus story gives us warm feelings at Christmas time. Sentimental Jesus is very popular. He doesn’t ask anything of you, and he just gives good feelings. We feel warm and cozy thinking about sentimental Jesus.

There’s the view that Jesus was just a good man. He was better than most people and that’s why we celebrate His birth. We talk about Him on Christmas to motivate all of us to be better too. His story might help me think about others at Christmas. Good Jesus is popular too. Good Jesus is good by our definition of good. Good Jesus certainly wouldn’t call anyone a sinner. He wouldn’t demand your repentance. Good Jesus doesn’t judge anybody for his or her rebellion against God.

There’s the view that Jesus wasn’t a real, historical figure. His existence is a myth that grew up over the centuries. Oh there probably was a real person named Jesus, but we’ve mythologized Him—kind of like Paul Bunyan. Well, really, kind of like Santa Claus. Christians just tell some tall tales about Jesus—walking on water, healing the lepers. Those are the types of stories that are told about mythical characters. Mythical Jesus is just a story that we can take or leave. He wasn’t real, but it’s really harmless and even quaint that people still believe in Him.

Hopefully, Christians are not tempted to think of Jesus in those terms. But there’s another wrong way to think about Jesus that Christians are susceptible to. This is Sunday Jesus. Who’s Sunday Jesus you ask? It’s the belief that Jesus was real, but all He asks of us is our Sundays. We give Him a Sunday—and not even all of them. I think He’s fine with just a Sunday once in a while. It’s more of a courtesy, a tip so to speak. We give Him a Sunday and the rest of the week we’re on our own. Sunday Jesus doesn’t make a difference the rest of the week. We sing about Him on Sunday, but we’re on our own on Monday. Well, it’s not that we’re on our own, but that we can ignore Him on Monday.

Sunday Jesus is King in the same sense that most men are the “kings” of their houses. His wife and kids kind of wink and allow the man to pretend he’s in charge. We nod and wink and let Jesus pretend He’s in charge. “King of kings” is more of an honorary title than a real description of Jesus.

Sunday Jesus isn’t Lord either. He doesn’t really call the shots in our lives. Again, I’m giving Him some of my Sundays. If He’s Lord, it’s on those days. It’s not all the time. I determine His lordship, which means He’s not really in charge.

Sunday Jesus doesn’t demand that we become like Him. That’s more of a suggestion. When it works out, if you can without much effort or inconvenience follow His lead, then by all means do so. But only if the cost is low enough, only if it doesn’t disrupt your plans.

Really Sunday Jesus is a shriveled Jesus. He’s a shadow of the Jesus described in the Gospels. He’s a shadow of the Jesus described in the Christmas story.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:36 (ESV)
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev 19:16 (ESV)

Are you worshipping Sunday Jesus or the real Jesus who is King and Lord and Savior?

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A Pastoral Prayer

Each Sunday morning I pray publicly for the congregation. My own devotional time, Scripture reading, and Christian reading provide some thoughts each week. I want to pray genuinely and also teach my congregation how to pray. For example, I want them to understand how to confess sin in prayer. Here’s one from a few weeks ago.

Dear Father, Our hearts have so many other loves, but only one is necessary—Jesus. Like Martha we are distressed and moved about by many things, but one thing is needful—time with Jesus. Remind us again this morning of Jesus’ love for us, and help us love Jesus most of all.

God, Ephesians describes you as rich in mercy. Some here this morning may think that’s good poetry but not true in their lives. Some bear more of the marks of a sin-cursed world than others. They’ve been mistreated, betrayed, attacked, diminished, and hurt. And it’s easy to wonder where is the evidence of your mercy in their life. But Father, the evidence of your mercy is your mistreated, betrayed, [and] attacked Son who died for us. And through his death we all know your mercy.

God, we have hearts that are stubborn and hard. Please make us pliable and teachable. We need your truth. You tell us that your Word is a light for our path and a lamp unto our feet. We need spiritual truth to make sense of life and yet we don’t seek your Word and we don’t listen when it’s presented to us. Soften our stubborn hearts this morning. May your truth sung and preached be used by the Holy Spirit to change us.

Father, don’t let our worship this morning to be perfunctory, habitual, dead. Instead may our worship be passionate, fervent, earnest, and intense. We are able to work up excitement and emotion on our own, but only you can give us genuine worship. So banish any thoughts except those that are focused on you. Eliminate any distractions that would keep us from thinking about you. May we be thrilled with you this morning.

Your Word says that people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. We need to be people that live in the light. First John tells us to walk in the light and it ties that to confessing sin regularly. So Lord, convict us when we hide our sin. We hide it by not admitting we’re wrong to others and to you. We hide it by actually keeping it secret from others. Convict us and let us know the sweet forgiveness that comes when we admit our sin.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Getting Hangry

My wife has accused me of getting hangry. I thought it was a more recent word, but its first recorded use was over 100 years ago. It’s an example of a portmanteau—a blending of two words to create a new word. It’s someone that gets irritated when they get hungry.

She sees it before I do, but I know when she sees it because in the midst of my “impassioned” words she says something like, “Well, let’s get you some lunch.” Which normally is not a response that would be expected to the topic of discussion. 😉 And, ironically, is sometimes something that I get angry about.

So… is my problem my hunger? I don’t normally eat breakfast, so I do get hungry by lunch. But is my problem hunger? Or is it that my hunger exposes my heart?

This is an actual picture of my wife and me having dinner in the ’50s. 😉

Pretty much anything Paul David Tripp writes I want to read. He communicates biblical truth so clearly and practically that all of us can understand it. This is never more true than in his 22-year-old book, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. In preparing for a discussion group this week I read this quote again.

Why do people do the things they do? Is my problem fundamentally an informational one? Will a well-researched, logical set of insights provide the solution? Or is my problem fundamentally experiential? Will dealing with my past solve my problem? Is my problem fundamentally biological? Will helping me achieve chemical balance solve my problem? Or is there something beneath all these things that is more deeply wrong with me? Scripture’s answer to this last question is a clear, resounding, “Yes!”[1]Paul D. Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2002), 9.

And of course our problem is sin—sins done by us, done to us, and the effects of sin in our world. We are sinners and sufferers.

But what I love about this quote is how he addresses several popular models of counsel. Some think you just need the right information to change. If you just know certain things, you will be different. This is how our world thinks about the sin of racism. Just know that our differences are really only skin deep and you will treat that other person with kindness. And certainly information can help. There is no virtue in ignorance.

But racism is sin so just more information isn’t enough to change us. That actually diminishes our need of Jesus. We have to be changed by Him.

Or is your problem your past? Well biblical counselors believe that the past can influence your present. We’re not robots going through life unaffected by what we’ve experienced. We just don’t believe that Freud was right in putting all the emphasis on your past. That’s not where the action is according to Scripture. The action—why you do what you do—is in the heart (Mk 7:14-23).

Or is your problem medical? Do you struggle with life because your brain is wired wrong and needs some chemical intervention? Whether that’s helpful or not is a question for another blog, but that’s not your fundamental problem. Biology cannot make you sin. If it could, then why did Jesus need to die for you?

All of those (ignorance, experience, biology) are actually outside influences on your soul. They can influence you, but they cannot control your response of right or wrong. They can make obedience harder, but they don’t make it impossible.

Just like my hunger doesn’t make kindness impossible. It’s important that we realize our fundamental problem is sin. When we do, the gospel becomes more and more precious to us.

References

References
↑1 Paul D. Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2002), 9.
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National Day of Prayer: for the Churches

I was asked to pray in Stevens County’s National Day of Prayer today, May 2nd. When asked, there were still a few subjects left, and I chose our community churches because it seemed one of the easiest in which to talk about the gospel. Here’s how I prayed at a community event in a way that was my attempt to be faithful to Christ.

Gracious Father,

Strong churches help us have a strong community. I’m thankful for those churches that are especially involved in serving our community’s physical needs. There are churches that provide free meals, that help the homeless, that encourage the addicted, that stand for life. Colville is better because of them and we thank you for them.

God, the church is an institution invented by you for the discipleship of your people and for the evangelization of the world. I pray that our churches will faithfully share the gospel. Our county needs Christ most of all. He changes people. He changed the Apostle Paul from a murderer into a missionary.

May those churches that love and share the gospel stay faithful to the Bible message. The good news needs to be known by all in Stevens County. May more and more realize they are sinners and that their sin separates them from a holy God. May they know that You must punish sin; you cannot wink at it or pretend it away since that would violate your nature. May they realize that Jesus was sent to live a perfect life and die in our place. A death that is substitutionary and effective for all who repent and believe. May our churches add nothing to the finished work of Christ on the cross. It is only by grace that we are saved.

Father, we need the words of life. We need the timeless truth of your Holy Word. So especially strengthen the pastors of our churches who labor long at understanding Scripture and teaching it to our congregations. May they preach the truth even if they are opposed. May they continue to be faithful to you.

I pray that our churches would get better at the one anothers of Scripture. The church should be different than the world. It should be a place where we love one another, forgive one another, bear with one another, live in harmony with one another, serve one another, be kind and compassionate to one another, admonish one another, encourage and edify one another, and so many more. Those are supposed to happen in our churches, and I pray they will.

Father, if anyone wants to be your disciple, Jesus said we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow you. May our churches produce more and better disciples of Jesus Christ.

God, you describe the church as a body in 1 Corinthians. It’s a picture that represents how each church needs every member. May our members faithfully attend, serve, and support our churches. If the entire body isn’t there, if the entire body isn’t serving, our local church bodies will limp along.

You also describe the church as a family when you call us the household of faith in Gal 6:10 and when you tell us to treat each other as fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in 1 Tim 5:1. Lord, families function best when they are not at war with each other. May we give each other grace, may we obey Scripture, and reconcile with each other. May our churches be marked by forgiveness of each other because we know we have been forgiven by God. May our church families be loving families. May we treat each other with the kindness, love, and grace that is the mark of the best of families.

May our churches be truly healthy. Spiritual health isn’t measured by how large our auditoriums are, or how big our offerings are, or how many people attend. Spiritual health is measured by how faithful we are to the Bible. I pray our churches in Colville will be more faithful to Scripture.  

In our Risen Savior, Jesus’ name, Amen

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Embarrassed of My Embarrassment

January 2024 will be five years since my younger brother died. Jeff was two years younger than me and also mentally disabled. When we were growing up in the ‘70s, it was called mental retardation, but that’s not a helpful description anymore, nor does it seem kind. Jeff was disabled enough that he was never going to be able to live on his own. My parents insisted that Jeff live with them; they took parenting him very seriously, and he lived with them until his death in 2019. He was almost 49. Jeff couldn’t understand the question why? If you asked him about his motivations, he would just repeat the question back to you. Physically, he was fine while we were growing up. Later, sometime after I left the house, Jeff started having seizures. When he died in 2019, it was while he was recovering from a seizure.

Jeff with my kids quite a few years ago.

My older brother was always the better brother to Jeff. I never told him at the time, but I marveled that he never seemed embarrassed by Jeff. As a preteen and teenager I was. Jeff didn’t have Down Syndrome; you couldn’t tell he was disabled by his appearance. But as soon as he spoke, it was obvious—at least it was to 13-year-old me. He wasn’t cool, and while I was never going to be cool, I also didn’t want to stand out in any way. Jeff occasionally stood out, and I thought that made me stand out. It’s embarrassing how sinful my thinking was. I’m embarrassed of my embarrassment then. I didn’t love my brother well. That love he got from our older brother, Bill.

Jeff was hardly the only reason for my embarrassment. I struggled with what I now know the Bible calls fear of man. I still see it in my life, but thankfully I’ve seen growth. For the longest time, I didn’t even know what was going on in my heart.

It was Edward Welch’s book, When People Are Big and God Is Small that first alerted me to this biblical theme. I’m sure others have had the same experience, but as I read it, incidents in my past started to make biblical sense.

Of course how I responded to my brother when I was a teenager came to mind. Also, others. For example, I attended a small seminary and was the president of the student body for a semester. One of my responsibilities was to organize the annual Christmas chapel. I did organize the program, but I recruited other students to actually do it. I didn’t want to be up front if it failed. I cared way too much what others thought of me.

The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. Prov 29:25

Scripture describes this problem as a trap, and I was trapped. I had lived my life to that point in slavery to the opinions of others. No, that’s not accurate. To the slavery of what I thought might be their opinions. I didn’t even know whether they thought that or not. But the fact that they might think poorly of me was an outcome horrible enough to paralyze me. The most obvious symptom was I didn’t tell others about Christ. What might they think?

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Gal 1:10

The Bible also tells me that pleasing God and living for the approval of men are opposites. And that contradiction is why Welch titled his book, When People Are Big and God Is Small. Either God or people are going to be big in your thinking. Whom will it be?

Welch’s book is far more helpful than this short blog could be. He is a fellow sufferer of the fear of man. His vulnerability gives the book authenticity. This one thought—either I fear people or I fear God—has been so helpful to me. It’s invaded my language of confession of sin. It changed how I parented my own kids. We talked about how the fear of man can control us, but we actually want to be controlled by God. Pleasing God must be more important than pleasing others.

But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. 1 Cor 4:3–4

Scripture described my problem, and it gave me a way out. Growing in the fear of God chases out every other fear. The Apostle Paul didn’t live for the opinions or values of the world. He knew that only God’s opinion matters.

So what to do? I know this. Since it’s sin, Scripture has a solution. Realizing what Scripture calls it was the beginning of help for me. Seeing its tentacles in my life made me realize that I need God’s sanctifying grace even more than I thought.

May it help you too.