License, Legalism, Love

Last Sunday, I added a last-minute thought to the message which 1) was a much bigger thought than I gave it room for, 2) may have been distracting to the main message, 3) was not thought through fully, and 4) the one thing some people really latched onto. I still haven't decided if it was a good addition or not!

The idea was that in Christ, we have three possible paths to tread: License, Legalism, or Love. When we went through Galatians over a year ago, we talked about License, Legalism, and Liberty, which is a theologically accurate list, but I like the focus of Love more than that of Liberty.

License is the idea that because I have my sins forgiven by grace, I can live as I please, do whatever my flesh desires. Hey, it's all going to be forgiven, right? Sure, it might be disrespectful to the Cross, but if it's covered, it's covered. Paul repeated teaches against this view, especially in Galatians.

Legalism is the idea that our righteousness and our standing before God is dependent on how well we adhere to a certain moral code. There are plenty of non-Christian religions that are blatantly legalistic. Although it's relatively rare to find an evangelical church that teaches this outright (there are some!), this more often finds its way into church by stealth. A church can believe in grace and teach grace, but still end up with teachings and sermons that boil down to "try harder, do it right, it's all on your shoulders." We can inadvertently create an attitude of legalism while preaching grace.

Liberty is the idea that in Christ, we finally have the freedom and ability to obey Him. We have been set free from sin and death and set free for following Him from our heart. The bonds are gone, but we are also enabled for the first time to actually obey, which we choose to do freely.

But I prefer the third element to be labeled Love. Not because Liberty is inaccurate in any way, but because Love encompasses Liberty and so much more.

Love is more than an idea ... it's a relationship, it's a motive, it's a mode, it's an attachment, it's so many things. Rather than freely disobeying God (License) or obeying God in bondage (Legalism), it is freely obeying God drenched by love in every way. We obey Christ because we love, love is our attitude while following Him, we love Him by obeying Him, and we even love by obeying the command to love. We have been freed because of love, Christ's will has been revealed to us because of love, and His will is how He provides for us a way to love Him.

"Liberty" describes the freedom and enablement we have because of Christ. "Love" describes the what, the why, and the how to exercise that freedom and enablement.

It's easy to slip back into legalism, where we try to create a set of rules. It's even easier to slip into license - just do whatever we desire to do, whether or not it is Christ's will. Loving relationships are not the easiest routes, but they are clearly the best ones, because love is the only path of the three that reflects Christ's character.

Anxiety Because We Forget

Psalm 139 is one of the church's favorite psalms of comfort. God's presence is everywhere, and even if we tried to escape it, we will never find a place where He is not. He knows everything about us, and He knew all of it before we were even born. He's the one who "knit" us together. In this psalm, we see God as sovereign, engaged, caring, and protective. It's no mystery why we love this psalm.

Just look at a sampling of the things God does in this psalm: examine, know, understand, observe, be aware, be thoroughly aware, squeeze, place His hand upon me, have knowledge, be present, be there, never too dark for Him to see, make, perform awesome and amazing deeds, know beforehand, see, and ordain. And after everything is said and done, we still have to contend with Him. Shew!

I am overwhelmed by the completeness of His attributes: to every extent and in every way, to any height or depth, far away and nearby, He is thoroughly God. Because He is our creator, He knows all these things, does all these things, exists in all these contexts and places. Even if we were to list, catalog, analyze, study, and write comprehensive theses about all this, still - there He is, with us, there for us to contend with. His existence is even beyond the sum of His attributes and actions.

My study of my Creator cannot be confined to an analysis of His effects. My creator is there for me to have a relationship with. He knows everything about me, He made me, He already exists in every place I will ever go. He’s there and he knows everything about the me who is there, too.

Many times when we are anxious, it is because we don't know what God knows, and we forget that what God know is ... everything.

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”

Forgive me, Lord, for my whining, as if You didn’t know everything, as if You weren’t absolutely there in this specific space, as if Your hand was not upon me, as if You did not create me.

Does My Effort Matter?

God is sovereign. Completely. Everything is under His control, nothing happens unless He at least allows to happen, if not directly makes it happen. He has guaranteed the final score before the first pitch. The Bible says that it's not just that God knows what's going to happen, but that He's the one who will make it happen.

So, does my effort matter? I can't thwart God's plan. I can't change the outcome (can I?). I certainly can't alter God's eternal plan. The Bible seems to care a lot about whether or not I do certain things, but does it really matter, since I can't alter the final score that's been fixed from before the world began?

Among theologians, these questions are part of a much larger debate which (sadly) can cause division among brothers in Christ. But in real life for normal people, it really comes down to the very practical question: Does my effort matter? And if it does, how so? And if not, then why bother?

Does my effort matter? You probably anticipated this answer: yes and no.

In one sense, no, your effort doesn't matter. Sorry, but God's plan is not so fragile as to teeter on whether or not you do something. He's completely, totally, effectively, conclusively sovereign, and He will execute His eternal plan no matter what you do. His confidence for the outcome of His plan is not merely based on the fact that He knows how it all turns out - His confidence comes from the fact that He is God, and because He is God, there is no other possible outcome than His plan.

But in another sense, yes, your effort does matter. Consider:

• We can participate in God's plan: Technically, everyone is always participating in God's plan, either for it or against, either wittingly or unwittingly, because no one is exempt from God's comprehensive plan. But we have the opportunity to be willing participants working for God's purpose rather than against it. That's a privilege! When the end comes, we will have either been active participants in what God accomplished, or non-participants, or even antagonists. Personally, I really like the first of those three options.
• We can be the kind of person God is making us to be. By participating actively in God's purpose, we are being what God wants. To be a believer in Jesus Christ, but inactive in God's plan, is to be a living contradiction. Even though I can't change the final score, I can either live consistently with His plan or live inconsistently with His plan. What kind of people does God want us to be - those who live in concert with His purpose and plan or those who clash with them?
• We can glorify God. By living a life that reflects what God is doing in the world, we bring Him glory. God is glorified by whatever reflects His character. Applying ourselves to His purpose reflects His character, and therefore glorifies Him. Don't tell me that doesn't matter.
• We can be how God executes His plan. Yes, God is completely sovereign and will accomplish His purpose, but God accomplishes a lot of His purpose through people. His sovereign plan that existed before the world began includes those through whom He will accomplish His plan. Our actions matter because our actions are part of what God sovereignly uses to execute His plan.

Part of our problem with this question is that we have a very Western mindset, which is focused on results. Actions are meaningful only if they produce the desired results. We look at God's sovereignty and how He will get His results no matter what we do, and we conclude our actions don't matter. However, our Western way is not the only way to discover what's meaningful. Meaning is also found in being. By being a certain kind of people (who do certain things because of who we are), we have meaning in God's economy. In other words, God has value for us not only in what we accomplish, but in who we are. Being completely willing  participants in His plan is valuable, no matter how it may affect the outcome.

Boycotts, Agendas, and the Public Square

There's been an interesting reversal these last two weeks - rather than a group of Christians rallying to boycott something, a group of folks have called for a boycott of a fast food restaurant because the head of the company publicly shared his personal view on a moral issue.

I don't intend to say who's right or who's wrong on the myriad of related issues here - that's not my point, and I don't intend to stir up the debate. I don't intend to answer the question of whether or not we should boycott at all. My only goal is to offer some ideas for Christians to consider as they exercise their right to engage in the public arena.

Our model, of course, is Jesus. I also see other useful examples in Scripture.

As you engage with friends, neighbors, coworkers, and cyberfriends, please consider:

• Jesus affiliated with the sinners, loved them, and yet never pretended that sin wasn't sin. The only people who felt really uncomfortable with Him were the religious hypocrites and those who wanted to remain in sin. All others, including the "vilest offenders," felt welcome in His presence (even though He would say things like, "Go and sin no more"). Would a sinner have every reason to feel comfortable in my presence by the loving way I stand for God's ways?
• In Acts 4-5, the disciples were unfairly arrested, but did not raise a huge protest over being mistreated, misunderstood, or violated. They did not make their personal rights the main issue, even though they were treated illegally. They did, however, plainly and clearly state the core truth of the Gospel, and then extended an offer for others to believe. Am I speaking to truly advance the Gospel or to advance my personal feelings and agenda?
• Because these disciples were mistreated, they were able to explain the claims of Christ to people they otherwise would never have had a chance to. Do I see opposition to my views as opportunities to share Christ in a winsome way?
• Their deciding factor, it seems, was that they would do whatever they could to give the Gospel its best possible hearing. They let their own rights be denied, they displayed respect, they chose to shut up or speak boldly, everything for the apparent purpose of not interfering with the Gospel. If they had loudly (and legally) demanded their rights, adopted a combative attitude, or spoke out of turn, they would have damaged the appeal of the Gospel. Do I treat my own freedom, safety, and rights as secondary to the Gospel?
• Paul did assert his rights at times, such as appealing to Caesar - which, as a result, put him in the court system in Rome, where he spoke about the Gospel (more than about his own rights) to those in the Roman government. Do I understand the system well enough to negotiate it wisely?
• Joseph and Daniel are two Old Testament characters in captivity to two different pagan kings. They both had their rights and freedoms denied. They were both treated unfairly. And they both used the gifts and talents God gave them to make their immoral kings very successful. Both made a stronger argument for the God of Israel by doing so. Do I bring value to others, or merely arguments and demands, forcing them into a defensive position?

There is a time to make a stand and endure conflict. When justice is systemically denied, when the defenseless are oppressed, when the moneychangers turn a space dedicated to God into a den of thieves.

But always, always, always, our actions in the public square should be dictated by advancing the Gospel, not mere religiosity. And the manner of our engagement must also reflect the nature of the Gospel itself, or we cancel out our own message.

I'm sorry I'm in your way

We have just reached the halfway point in Ephesians. The first three chapters are primarily about what's true ("indicative"), and the last three chapters are more about what to do ("imperative"). We are presently right between the two halves, holding in our back pocket what we have learned about God's work while reaching forward to how those truths should find be expressed in how we walk day after day.

One thing that is abundantly clear from those first three chapters is that the real power that changes our lives is not our lone effort, but the very hand of God. He called us and provided salvation for us (chapter 1), He made us alive and brought us near (chapter 2), and He displays His manifold wisdom and can fill us beyond our own ability to imagine (chapter 3). The hand that truly changes lives is not mere flesh.

Therefore, the ideal in ministry is to cultivate God's work in the lives of people. Not to do the work, not to be the hero, not to implement the jazziest program, and not to have all the answers. Rather, the best we can do in ministry is provide the ripest environment for someone to receive the only real work that changes us in eternal ways. A farmer doesn't make plants grow - but he works hard to create the richest environment for that growth to occur.

However, sometimes in our efforts, we get in the way. More to the point, sometimes I get in the way. Just recently, as I was mowing the lawn (so, you know it wasn't all that recent), I was tumbling through my head several ways that I have gotten in the way. In just about every area of responsibility, I can name ways that I have occasionally gotten in the way instead of making the way straight. Teaching, administrating, communicating, preaching, praying, counseling, coaching - you name an area, I can point to ways that I get between God's power and the people I'm supposed to be assisting.

For that, I apologize. And I admit that I have not yet figured out how to keep out of the way, so I will get in the way again. But I'm interested in far more than issuing an apology for past and future shortcomings. My main purpose here is to encourage all of us, including me, to be ongoing students of what it really means that only God's power transforms.

Whether we are teaching or sharing our faith or being involved in ministry activities, how can we get out of the way? How are we tempted to get in the way, and then how can we step aside? How can we prepare the soil for God's power to be most effective in others (and in ourselves)? For example, do I teach in a way that adds the burden of lone human effort, or do I connect people with God's potent eagerness to be at work in us?

I'm prompted to write not because of some particular incident, and I'm not beating myself up. But I did have one of those too-infrequent moments of clarity in seeing some specific ways where my efforts occlude rather than reveal. I suspect that I'm not alone in this. With our continued partnership, we have everything we need in order to have a greater impact by learning better how to just get out of the way.

Of course, that only makes sense if God's power is in fact reliable. It comes down to whether or not we really believe this to be true.

Rom 8.12-17

Psg: Rom 8.12-17 (http://biblia.com/bible/leb/Ro8.12-17)
Date: 7/10/12

Read

12 So then, brothers, we are obligated not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba!cFather!” 16 The Spirit himself confirms to our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer together with him so that we may also be glorified together with him.

Record

For if you live according to … the Spirit / if indeed we suffer together with him...

Reflect

• Walking by the Spirit in this world will lead to suffering, because we will be walking at odds with this world.
• Of course, living according to the flesh leads to death. It will be slavery and then a death that are not at odds with this world, as if that were some consolation.
• The direction that the Spirit will lead us will necessarily be at odds with this world. They are two forces of momentum going in different directions.
• Otherwise, we wouldn’t need the leading of the Spirit.
• Therefore, there will be clashes, collisions, forces being applied in the same place at the same time, but not in the same direction.
• And therefore there will be suffering with Christ.
• We should not be surprised or discouraged at the suffering, the collisions, the feelings of going against the grain, or the bumps and bruises it causes.
• This is part of what it means to be sons/children of God.
• It’s not just being in the group, but it’s being in the stream that moves contrary to flow of this world and the suffering that comes with that.
• Being children of God also means being heirs (17) and therefore sharing in his glory (17).

Respond

• Forgive me, Father, for my desire to avoid the necessary suffering that comes with walking by the Spirit in a world that walks by the flesh. Correct me for the ways that I turn to walk by the flesh rather than take the bruises of walking against the grain, against the flow of the dead. Living up to the name of an heir and sharing in Christ’s glory is far superior to the discomfort of sharing in Christ’s suffering.
• CR: When facing the temptation to follow the bruiseless flow, picture being in a crowded area with two flows of people - the larger flow walking toward death and the smaller flow walking toward life. Be willing to take the knocks of the living.

Ps 103.8-18

Psg: Psa 103.8-18 (http://biblia.com/bible/leb/Ps103.8-18)
Date: 7/9/12

Read

8 Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,

⌊slow to anger⌋c and abundant in loyal love.

9 He does not dispute continually,

nor keep his anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

nor repaid us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.

12 As far as east is from west,

so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.

13 As a father pitiesd his children,

so Yahweh pitiese those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame.f

He remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like the grass.

As the flower of the field, so he blossoms.

16 When the wind passes over it, it is no more,

and its place knows it no longer.

17 But the loyal love of Yahweh

is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to their children’s children,

18 to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his precepts.

Record

(14) For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust.

Reflect

• As we consider our guilt, our sin, our responsibilities before God, his justice, his wrath, his hesed, we should also remember this statement. He knows what we’re made of. He knows our incapacities. He knows our parts that just don’t work.
• This does not mean that we are excused.
• This is more than God looking down and saying, “At least you tried hard.”
• This is a reality that God is fully aware of: he demands perfection, we are structurally and systemically incapable of it, and he is fully aware of that.
• This is why Jesus is necessary, and God knows it (of course). Jesus is God’s only avenue because of what he knows to be true about our capacity.
• This informs everything he instructs us to do, everything he expects from us, everything he equips us for, and everything that he expects the Holy Spirit to empower.
• Our sins do not surprise him or shock him. He knows what we’re made of.
• cf. Jn 2:24 But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people,i 25 and because he did not⌊need⌋j anyone ⌊to testify⌋k about man, for he himself knew what was in man.*
• His love for us is all the more amazing.

Respond

• Thank you for your “despite all that” love.
• Teach me to see myself as you see me, and then to rely on the Holy Spirit even more.