Let’s Move In Together!

So I am re-blogging today, but I think the article below is right on target. Statistics show that cohabitation is better practice for divorce than it is for marriage. Right now, the Christian Church is fighting to defend the sanctity of marriage. Let’s not forget that cohabitation is against God’s will as well. Now that it has become the norm and is basically acceptable practice in this country and even in the church, we are starting to see some of the consequences. Maybe God was right when He specifically created sex to be enjoyed within the bounds of marriage. Go figure! Enjoy the article:

I have been going out with my girlfriend for almost three months and thankfully all is going very well. I was filling in a friend on this news the other day and at the end of the conversation the person asked me, with a face of anticipated excitement, “Will you be moving in together”? I was initially surprised by the question as I imagined it was obvious to most people I know where I would stand on such an issue. However I guess that it is no longer ‘obvious’ why a young dating couple would decide not to pack their bags and find a place together. Let me explain then why I have decided not to share a bed with my girlfriend.

Cohabitation prior to marriage is well and truly the most popular path for young couples. Just over 75% of couples now live together prior to marriage and for many of them it is something they slide into rather than necessarily consciously deciding upon. When he or she begins to spend more nights at the other person’s house than their own, eventually it seems natural to stop paying two lots of rent.

But while cohabitation is billed as an important way to get to know the other person and ensure a more secure future marriage there is really no evidence to back that up. Social data shows cohabiting relationships last about 2.5 years before breaking up or converting to marriage but conversion rates to marriage are declining. Among couples who begin cohabiting, 50% will have married and 50% will have broken up in within five years. For those who do eventually marry though, divorce rates are double those who do not cohabit before marriage.

Why then is cohabitation the accepted norm, and at the same time completely useless in helping couples discern their future? The answer to both questions is the same: sex. When a couple moves in together it is the fruit of that fact that they have began engaging in sexual relations already. Cohabitation is about sex, let’s not be confused. The cohabiting couple make the subliminal statement to each other that “I don’t need to be married to you to have sex with you”. That is a very critical statement in the health of a relationship because sex goes from something once worthy of vows before God, to something not much bigger than deciding what one will have for lunch. The vow a cohabiting couple make is this, “I promise to have sex with you until such a time that I meet someone else who I would rather have sex with”. I watched the movie ‘The Vow’ recently, a romantic comedy/drama based on a true story. The main couple meet, begin dating and eventually the guy asks the girl to move in with him. The scene was portrayed as this special romantic moment where the man had finally stepped up and done the right thing. Rubbish! All he had really said was, “I want to have sex with you more regularly but I want the freedom to end it all in case it doesn’t work out”. How romantic is that?!

So what about the couples who do live together but eventually marry? I question the freedom with which they entered into that marriage and their real desire to be together until death. Sex by its very nature is designed to bond a couple but when a relationship gets physical before its time, important issues like character, life philosophy, and compatibility go to the wayside. Consequently, everything is romanticized and it becomes difficult to remember the important issues let alone talk about them. When a dating couple engage in sex, they disregard checking for an intellectual commitment and instead enter into an emotional and sexual one. Budding love is very fragile and can easily be crushed by lust. Just because a cohabiting couple may eventually make it to the altar (or more likely the garden) is not a sign that share a true love. Many couples who marry today do not choose marriage as freely as they might have, they often simple slide into it. It just became the next choice in a series of unwise choices. A cohabiting relationship is based on the principle that one can walk away at any time and this attitude is not easily dislodged just because a wedding certificate has been signed.

Couples who cohabit certainly desire love and they undoubtedly try their best to love one another, but the problem is their best will not be good enough because they are relying on tainted and corrupted information. They learn how to have sex with the other person but not about the person, they desire to be loved but fail to understand how to love.

If I was not interested in discerning any possible future with my girlfriend, then sure, we might as well shack up now. But my heart like every other human heart desires to find a love that will last a lifetime. I have a far diminished chance of finding that love if I take the easy option now and simply follow the social trend. Love is too precious a commodity to be is cheapened and destroyed through the social evil that is cohabitation.

This post originally appeared on Foolish Wisdom.

Bernard Toutounji is a freelance speaker and writer. He has a theological formation from both Australia and the USA, and has particular interest in questions of anthropology, morality and truth. Bernard writes a regular column, www.foolishwisdom.com, in which he takes a contemporary issue and examines it through an alternative lens. Bernard tutors in theology at a university level and speaks at conferences when requested.

We Are All Witnesses

Acts 1:8-9 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Happy Ascension Day! It has been 40 days since Easter, and during those 40 days, Jesus made many appearances to his disciples. But on Ascension Day, Jesus gives them his last set of instructions and ascends into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty until he returns to judge the living and the dead.

Today, I want to focus on Jesus’ words “You will be my witnesses.” If you were to travel through downtown Cleveland a few years ago, you would have seen a huge poster on the side of skyscraper. This big, black poster had one, simple phrase on it as well as a picture of Cleveland’s former “king,” Lebron James. (I’m pretty sure it isn’t there anymore, but I’m not going to do any fact-checking.) What message is this poster sending? Nike’s simple slogan for Lebron- We Are All Witnesses- is meant to point people to Lebron’s accomplishments. We are supposed to stand in awe at his greatness and his basketball prowess. We are encouraged to see him in person so that we can testify to others about his thunderous dunks and amazing shot blocks. Witness. It’s a simple slogan. But it really does say a lot because it implies that Lebron is someone worth witnessing. And even casual basketball fan would agree that he certainly is.

Lebron certainly has an impressive list of accomplishments and jaw-dropping plays that millions of people have witnessed. And they talk about it. Many people are extremely passionate about him, and they use strong adjectives to describe him. But moving on from Lebron, what events or people have you witnessed that you were just in awe of? What have you seen? What have you heard?

Jesus’ disciples were witnesses to some pretty amazing events. And when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to them on that day of Pentecost, they began to share what they had heard and seen. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter began to proclaim the events of Jesus’ life and death. He builds up an argument that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. Remember, Peter is speaking exclusively to Jews right now, and he knows his audience. He brings in King David, the greatest king of Israel. King David was the Lebron James of the Jews. He was bigger than life, and yet Peter points out that King David has indeed died. All the Jews knew exactly where he was buried. But David in one of his Psalms spoke of the resurrection of Christ. Psalm 16:9-10, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.”

Peter concludes, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and ahs poured out what you now see and hear…Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Peter and the rest of the disciples were first-hand witnesses to the resurrected Jesus.

The formal definition of a witness is one who has personal knowledge of something or someone who can testify to an event having taken place. Again, Jesus told his followers right before he ascended into heaven, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The disciples had personal knowledge of Jesus’ amazing accomplishments. They could testify that his death and resurrection took place. And they began to be his witnesses, starting in Jerusalem just as Jesus said.

But the message didn’t stop there. In Acts chapters 3 and 5, the disciples got in trouble with the Jewish leaders for their message, but they remained faithful witnesses to Jesus. 3:15- “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” In Acts chapter 10, Peter is told to take the Gospel of Jesus to Gentiles which was unheard of, but Peter faithfully proclaimed to them, “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.” And in Acts 26 when Paul appears before the Roman courts after he has been arrested, he tells the story of his conversion to the Romans. The voice of Jesus told Paul, “I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I am sending you to the Jews and Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

The earliest witnesses of Jesus made it to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and even to Rome, but they did not make it to the ends of the earth. Yet the Gospel of Jesus continued to spread through more witnesses. The word of God has gone to the ends of the world. It has come to us today. And now we are God’s witnesses.

How can that be? We didn’t see Jesus die on a cross or rise from the dead. We didn’t witness him ascending into heaven. None of us had a vision like Paul did. How can we be Jesus’ witnesses? Let’s go back to that definition of a witness. A witness is someone who has personal knowledge of something. I think that counts us in as witnesses to Jesus. We have been directly and personally affected by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We ourselves have experienced our own death and resurrection through Jesus.  Romans chapter 6  expresses the personal connection we have with Jesus–

Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him…. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him… The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

You are witnesses of Jesus Christ and what he has done because what he did on the cross, he did for you. In your baptism, you died to your sinful self and were raised to new life in Christ. The old spiritual song “Were You There” asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord”, and “Were you there when God raised him from the tomb.” These questions expect us to answer, “Yes! I was there! I am a witness to what Jesus has done!” The forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that Jesus won on the cross has been given to you. You are alive in Christ. His death was your death. His life is your life. You can’t get a more personal experience or witness than that!

We are all witnesses. Another definition of a witness given by a pastor is this “Someone who by explanation and demonstration gives audible and visible evidence of what they have seen and heard without being deterred by the consequences of their actions.” You can give evidence of what Jesus did for you by your own words and actions. You don’t have to speak in tongues or travel to a foreign country. You can be a witness wherever you are in life. “We are all witnesses” of Jesus Christ. It’s a simple yet powerful slogan because it implies to everyone else that Jesus is someone worth witnessing and experiencing.

Burn Notice

In this post, I have to brag about one of the elders at St. John in Defiance where I serve. My last couple of posts have been about Cross Connections, recognizing Christian themes in book, TV shows, movies, and everyday life. A Christian theme is not simply teaching

My 1-year-old son loves Clifford almost as much as I do

good morals and habits. Clifford does that. My son and I recently watched an episode of Clifford where we learned that it is good to play games fairly and not cheat. I got a lot out of it. But Christian themes are specifically about Christ and His work for us. This includes themes of forgiveness, redemption, sacrifice, second chances, sin, good vs. evil, and so on.

At our elders’ meeting last week, the elder who had the opening devotion made a great Cross Connection. (I’m going to keep capitalizing Cross Connection because I’m hoping to trademark it. Look for the book soon. Just kidding. But seriously) He began by talking about some of the TV series he has been watching on Netflix. One of the shows he has gotten into is called Burn Notice and is on USA network.

Are there ever any ugly spies?

I have not seen this show, but this is the general premise. A burn notice is issued by intelligence agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. When spies are burned, their connection to an espionage organization is terminated, leaving them without access to cash or influence. According to the narration during the opening credits, the burned spy has no prior work history, no money, no support network – in essence, no identity.The show follows a former spy named Michael Westen who has received a burn notice and is trying to figure out who issued it. In order to make some money, he works as a private investigator on the side.

According to the elder who watches the show, the burn notice also means that he is a target for execution. Other people in the intelligence agency have the freedom to take him out. Somebody wants Michael Westen dead. So much of the shows involves him trying to avoid his burn notice and also put an end to it.

Then the elder made the Cross Connection. He said that all people everywhere have a burn notice. Because of our sin, which we have had since conception, we are all destined to die and to burn eternally. That is our fate.Our connection to God has been terminated.

Many people’s lives are consumed with trying to avoid our burn notice. What are some of the ways we try it? Some try to convince themselves that their is no burn notice. It is a made up thing. Nothing happens to us when we die. Sin does not exist. So they decide to “live it up” now because there is nothing to worry about. Ignorance is bliss.

Others try to avoid their burn notice by attempting to make up for their sin. They are “generally a good person,” so God would certainly not allow them to be burned. They believe that they can work hard enough to eventually get rid of that burn notice. But try as they might, the burn notice remains.

For the Christian, however, we can honestly say that our burn notice has been taken away. But we didn’t have anything to do with it. We aren’t the ones who battled Satan so that we would not be burned. Instead, Jesus took our burn notice to the cross with him. He suffered the death we were supposed to die from our burn notice. He suffered the disconnection to His own heavenly Father. He suffered the very pangs of hell on that cross so that we would not have to. Our burn notice has been avoided because of Jesus.

Now, instead of a burn notice, we have a baptism certificate. In our baptism, our burn notice was torn up and thrown away. Whenever we have doubts about our eternal destination, we can look to our baptism where God spoke our name and said “You are mine.” We don’t have to nervously look over our shoulder and wonder if sin or the devil is coming to take us out. We can live without fear of death.

Many thanks to the elder who pointed out this Cross Connection. I hope this encourages you to keep looking for Christ wherever you are. You never know what opportunity you might have to witness to an unbeliever who still has their burn notice about what Jesus has done for them. Happy Cross Connecting!

 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Gran Torino

I have been doing a lot more thinking lately about my last post entitled “Cross Connections.” I think I may make it a theme on this blog for awhile. As I mentioned in that post, I am always keeping my eye out for connections that can be made from movies, books, TV shows, news articles, and everyday life to the cross of Jesus Christ. A good practice to get into is to look for Christian themes in everything just listed above.

Now I have to clarify what qualifies as a Christian theme. A specifically Christian theme revolves around Christ, his life, his death and resurrection. For something to have a decidedly Christian theme you need to be able to connect it to the struggle of sin and grace and how Christ has won the victory over the powers of evil. For example, The Cosby Show, a good, wholesome show, could have an episode where one of the Huxtable kids learns a lesson about lying. While this is a worthwhile lesson and while God’s Word certainly commands us to not lie, this is not a specifically Christian theme. After all, most people, Christian or not, think it is wrong to lie. Many other world religions share the same morals and value system that Christians do. After all, God’s law is written on the hearts of all men. (Romans 2:15) So while we should still teach the 10 Commandments and recognize them as God’s will for our lives, for Cross Connections purposes, mere morality does not count.

Let’s look at another example. A book that has obvious Cross Connections is C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The whole series has Cross Connections, but this is the most well-known one. Does C.S. Lewis ever mention God, or Jesus, or the Bible? No, but that doesn’t mean that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe does not have Christian themes. In fact, it abounds in them. The whole point of the book is to allude to the redemption story in Scripture. Aslan, the ruler of the land Narnia and its creator, willingly sacrifices himself for the sake of Edmund who fell under the charms of the White Witch. She has rightfully laid claim to Edmund, but Aslan submits to her in Edmund’s place, making the White Witch quite pleased with herself. In a moment of triumph, after her minions have badly beaten and shamed Aslan, the White Witch drives her dagger into his heart and kills him. However, Aslan comes back to life a short while later, explaining that when he, an innocent “person,” gave himself up for the guilty, death would be undone. Aslan goes on to breathe new life into all those who have been turned into stone, defeats the White Witch, and frees the land of Narnia from her rule.

Find any Cross Connections there? Of course you did. You are supposed to. The themes in this book are decidedly Christian. You have sacrifice, redemption, resurrection, the struggle between good and evil, and the triumph of good by submitting to death. C.S. Lewis does a masterful job of using a work of fiction to tell the Gospel story. It would be easy to explain to a non-Christian how The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe connects to Christ.

Here’s another example that is less obvious but is still very powerful: the move Gran Torino.(By the way, huge SPOILER ALERT here. I’m going to talk about the end of the movie in order to make my point. This is really a great movie, and I encourage you to watch it. So if you want to watch it, stop reading now because the ending is a bit of a surprise. If you just want to know where I’m going, then by all means, keep reading.) This excellent movie, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, has some great Cross Connections. “But it’s rated R!” you might protest. True enough. Don’t show it to your kids. “But the title character is a bitter, racist old man!” Also true enough. A flawed central character struggling with his own prejudice… sounds like a great set-up for a redemption story! Plus, what a picture of the entire human race in our struggle with sin. But the ending is what really brings out the Cross Connections. In order to save a family from their trouble with a gang, Clint Eastwood’s character confronts the gang. However, instead of trying to shoot ‘em up and kill them all (like most action movies) he lays down his life and gets shot and killed, but the whole thing is witnessed by many so that the gang members can be arrested (and they can’t claim self-defense).

So can an R-rated movie produced by Warner Bros. (not a “Christian” company) have Cross Connections? Absolutely! Gran Torino wonderfully tells a story of redemption and sacrifice, and that’s a movie you can absolutely talk about with your non-Christian friends and family members. Chances are that they like the movie and have no idea the connections you can make to Jesus. So keep looking for those Cross Connections! They are all over the place! In the comments below, let me know some of the Cross Connections you have made recently.

I almost forgot to add this, but Gran Torino mentions Lutherans, only adding to its awesomeness!

Cross Connections

Yesterday, at the closing of our Wednesday night school, I invited up three students who had spent part of the night playing outside and put them on the spot. I asked them what games they had been playing outside. The three answers were: Jackpot (or 500), basketball and tag. I then challenged them to make a connection from the game they were playing to their faith. In other words, what concepts from tag, or Jackpot or basketball could they transfer over to their Christian life.

With a little bit of coaching on my part (It was a difficult task since they didn’t know it was coming) this is what they came up with. The basketball player was able to draw a connection from playing as a team in basketball to the body of Christ. We are all in this together. We need to encourage each other and treat each other fairly. I asked the student who played Jackpot what our jackpot is as Christians. He replied, “Eternal life.” I then commented that we don’t have to go chasing after God’s jackpot and hope that we catch it. Rather, God places it in our outstretched arms as a gift. Then we moved on to tag. I asked the student, “In our spiritual lives, who is chasing us?” She had the right answer: “God.” “That’s right!” I replied. “God chases after us with His Word and with His love. He goes chasing after us even when we try to run away from Him.”

Let’s call all these examples “Cross Connections.” These are situations of everyday life that can be used to made a connection to God’s Word and the message of Christ crucified. I gave all the students a challenge for the week to open their eyes to other “Cross Connections.” What kind of Christian themes can they pull out of ordinary circumstances?

This is actually a great activity to try. I find myself doing it all the time throughout the day. Many times, it is because I am trying to find a great sermon illustration. I know of a Director of Christian Education who asked kids to bring in random objects for his children’s messages. He would then pick an object (without seeing it beforehand) and make a Cross Connection. It became quite a fun game for the kids as they tried to find something that he would struggle to connect. For example, a kid might bring in a small, random object that was a piece which belonged to a larger object. That one was easy, he claimed. Every Christian is also a small but important part of the Body of Christ. There’s your Cross Connection.

But you don’t have to write sermons or give children’s messages in order to look for Cross Connections. It is a good habit to pick up especially when you are reading a book or watching a TV show or movie. I am admittedly very wary of anything that is labelled as “Christian,” such as a Christian book or Christian movie or Christian music. As others have noted, “‘Christian’ is a good noun but a terrible adjective.” A Christian movie, while it is certainly clean often grossly misrepresents Christianity and portrays Christianity as a moral way of life and never mentions Jesus, the cross and resurrection, or the forgiveness of sins, which are the true marks of Christianity.

However, a good practice to get into is look for Christian themes in books, movies, TV shows, music, and everyday life. Something does not have to be labelled “Christian” for it to have Biblical themes. Look for examples of unconditional love, sacrifice, service, forgiveness, redemption, second chances, good versus evil, etc. Parents, this is a great way to engage your kids in faith conversations. After watching a movie together, discuss it. Ask them what they saw and make some Cross Connections.

I recently read the Hunger Games series. I have not seen the movie yet. But I’ll use it as an example. Obviously, you aren’t going to take little kids to see the movie or even have them read the book, but many teenagers have done both. So what kind of Cross Connections are in the Hunger Games? How can you start a faith conversation after you finish watching the movie with your friends or children? Probably the most obvious connection (Spoiler Alert!) is when Katniss (the heroine) voluntarily takes the place of her younger sister in the Hunger Games even though she knew it meant that she would probably be killed. Hmmm….sound familiar? Who else was a voluntary substitute in our place? Katniss fought the fight so her sister wouldn’t have to.

This theme of sacrifice comes up again as Peeta is ready to sacrifice his own life in order to protect Katniss in the Games. You can also talk about love, compassion, freedom from oppressors, or good versus evil (a standard theme which can be turned into a discussion of the ultimate good versus evil battle). Suddenly, you’re talking about God in a way that is easily relatable.

Making Cross Connections is a valuable skill in evangelism as well. If you can start with common ground, you can then start leading that person to the message of the cross. If you’re having an in-depth conversation on the nature of zombies, you can talk about death and resurrection. If you’re friend is obsessed with watching Teen Mom, you can talk about the gift of life, the nature of forgiveness and the love of God our heavenly Father. The Cross Connections are out there. Ask God for the wisdom and guidance to recognize the relevance of His Word to the current world and culture and for the skill to connect people to Jesus and the Gospel.

In the comments section, please share some Cross Connections that you have made recently. We all see situations differently and can hopefully contribute to expanding each other’s repertoires.

 

Easter Sermon- A Cinderella Story

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is risen indeed! Amen!

Easter is my favorite holiday. In my opinion, no holiday can match the joy and celebration of Easter Sunday. Sure, Christmas is definitely more popular. That probably has something to do with all those gifts we give and receive. Christmas in our culture has a lot more pomp and circumstance. Christmas is typically considered the biggest holiday of the year. And the birth of Jesus is certainly a noteworthy celebration. But Christmas is nothing without Easter. Easter is the height, the climax, of the church year. Everything in Jesus’ life and in your own life is building up to Easter, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. To summarize St. Paul, “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our faith is worthless and pointless.” For sure, Holy Week for me means a lot of extra time and work, but it is totally worth because of the celebration of Easter. As the theologian N.T. Wright has put it: “”We should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity… This is our greatest day.”

One of my other favorite times of the year just ended last week. Monday night was the culmination of March Madness, the men’s college basketball tournament. I have always loved March Madness. In elementary and high school, I was so eager to get home for those first round afternoon games. I would plop down in front of the TV with my bracket and consume college basketball. In college, since I had a little more freedom in my choices, I admittedly would skip any classes that interfered with March Madness. A guy’s got to have priorities, right?

Even mild basketball fans often get caught up in the excitement of March Madness. They will fill out brackets and predict a winner for the office pool and even try to watch some of the games, especially those first round games. I believe the reason for this is the anticipation of a Cinderella story. It seems we cannot get enough of Cinderella. We love to root for the upset, the David versus the Goliath, the tiny school against the tradition-rich, larger superpower. We get caught up in the classic tale of rags to riches.

This year, of course, the super-powers won out in the end. There weren’t too many extended Cinderella stories. But we did have a few upsets, a couple of Davids taking down Goliath. Who didn’t find themselves pulling for little Lehigh University against the giant everyone loves to hate- the Duke Blue Devils? We also had Norfolk St. (who had ever heard of that school before) taking down one of the best teams in the tournament in Missouri. Those Cinderellas had their moment of glory. We remember with fondness their rags to riches journey.

What is so compelling about a Cinderella story? I think it is the element of surprise. The victory is completely unexpected. We love to root for the underdog, but we don’t expect them to win. If they were expected to win, they wouldn’t be an underdog and it wouldn’t be an upset. The Cinderella team always gets to claim, “Nobody believes in us!” They use that thought as motivation. “No one thought we could pull it off!” No one believed David could beat Goliath, especially since he wasn’t wearing any armor and was armed with a few rocks and a sling. They were busy planning his funeral. Cinderella’s wicked stepmother and sisters never thought she could get a handsome prince to fall in love with her. When the slipper fit, they were stunned. A couple of years ago, no one believed that Butler, a small university in Indiana, could make it all the way to the national championship game and almost win the March Madness tournament. They shocked the nation. And we loved them for it.

Hollywood certainly knows that the rags to riches story is compelling. From Rocky hanging with Apollo Creed to a slumdog from India winning a million dollars, we eat these stories up. Even shows like American Idol are based on the premise that an unknown talent who never had a shot at making it to the big time finally has a chance to prove themselves. Why do you think thousands of people show up for those auditions? They all want their own Cinderella story. They want to beat the odds, to take down Goliath, to shock the world. You see, that’s another reason why we love the Cinderella story because it gives us hope. We think, “That could be me someday.” We could have our own rags to riches journey. We could be that average person toiling away, waiting for that big break, and we just hope that it comes. The Cinderella story is deeply personal.

I mentioned before that Easter is my favorite holiday. Why is Easter such a great celebration? Maybe because it is the greatest Cinderella story ever told. 

Think about it. It has all the classic elements that make a Cinderella story. After all, it was completely unexpected. The story of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is more unexpected than Cinderella marrying a prince, Rocky beating Apollo Creed or David taking down Goliath. Why? Because dead people don’t come back to life! We all know that! All those other people had to overcome some pretty great odds. None of them died however. The chances of someone coming back to life after they have died are 0%. Dead is dead. There is no coming back from that.

A few years ago, a bunch of brilliant minds got together to have a discussion about the Easter story. They had a press conference to present their conclusions, and they announced that the resurrection didn’t happen because it couldn’t. It was impossible. They even took with them a local young woman who worked at the morgue so that she could bear witness, in case anyone was in any doubt, that normally when people died, they stayed dead.

And yet today, we are gathered together to hear the story about the women who came to the tomb expecting to find the very much dead body of Jesus. Instead they found a stone rolled away and an angel sitting inside the tomb who announced to them, “Jesus is not here. He is risen!” What was their response? “Oh yeah, that’s what we thought would happen.” No! They were shocked. Mark says that trembling and astonishment seized them. They were terrified. They didn’t know what to think! This was completely unexpected. What does the angel mean “He is risen?”

But later on, they see Jesus with their own eyes. Paul says that over 500 witnesses saw the risen Jesus with their own eyes and could confirm his Cinderella story. But this isn’t simply a rags to riches tale. This was a death to life event. This wasn’t just a small boy taking down a giant. This was a dead person taking down the greatest giant of all time- death.

Just think about this. As a human race, we have been able to overcome all sorts of obstacles and opposition using our reason and intellect. But one enemy we have not been able to beat is death. Sure, we’ve been able to delay death for a little bit longer thanks to medicine and technology, but sooner or later, death is not going to be denied. It’s going to win. But Jesus beat it.

Jesus could even claim that no one believed in him. He told the disciples three separate times that he was going to suffer and die but then rise again. They didn’t get it. He told the Jewish leaders that he was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. He was talking about his body. They said, “Sure you will.” Again, no one expected Jesus to defeat death by rising from the dead- not even the devil himself. Easter is the greatest Cinderella story ever.

Yes, Easter is my favorite holiday, but not just because of the great Cinderella story of Jesus’ resurrection. What makes Jesus’ Cinderella story even greater is what it means for you and me.

Remember when I said that one of the most compelling aspects of a Cinderella story is that it makes us think “That could be me someday!”? It gives us hope for our own Cinderella experience. Well, Easter means that you and I have our own Cinderella story. Jesus’ death and resurrection, his rags to riches journey, was done for you and for me. Jesus’ unexpected victory becomes our unexpected victory. It means that Jesus has also taken you from rags to riches and from death to life.

You see, you were once dead in your trespasses and sins. That’s how God’s Word describes you before conversion. You were dressed in filthy rags, stained by sin. You were powerless to save yourself. It was impossible. But through the waters of Holy Baptism, you have passed from death to life. As Romans 6:4 puts it: “We were buried therefore with Jesus by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Jesus’ victory has been given to you. He has clothed you in the rich robes of his own righteousness. You were dead in sins, and now you are alive in Christ. You were clothed in dirty rags, and now you are dressed in a  pure, white robe of righteousness.

A real Cinderella story has taken place in your life. The giants of sin, death and the devil have been defeated, not by you, but by Christ for you. And you can relive your Cinderella story every single day as you confess your sins to God, and then remember your baptism where God forgave you and washed your sins away and promised you the riches of eternal life. You have won the victory through Jesus. All this is because of Easter. If it were not for Jesus’ Cinderella story from death to life, Paul says your faith is futile and you would still be in your sins. Easter is the greatest celebration for a Christian- so far.

That’s right. So far. Because a better day is coming. You will be part of another Cinderella story someday because of Jesus. One day, you are going to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and rise from the dead.

One day, you will die. Death is not completely done away with yet. You will die and your body will remain here on earth, subject to decay and rot. Your spirit will be with God in heaven. But that’s not the Cinderella story. That’s not the end. Jesus is coming back to this earth someday and when he does he will raise all people from the dead. You will experience resurrection. You will go from death to life. Jesus will take the rags of your decaying body and give it new life so that you will have a new, glorious body that will never die again. And Jesus will take the rags of this earth, and he will remake it into a new creation for us to live on forever. Now that is a Cinderella story to look forward to. Just as Jesus defied the odds and defeated the giant enemy of death by rising from the dead to eternal life, you too will rise from the dead when death is completely finished off on the Last Day. And we will live happily ever after.

Let us pray: Lord God, we praise you on this most special and holy day! Christ is risen! Alleluia! You have changed the whole course of human history by raising your Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead so that those who believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. Help us to continue to trust your promise that because Jesus lives, we too shall live. Fill our whole lives with the joy and the hope of Easter victory, our Cinderella story from the rags of sin to the riches of your grace. Amen.

Book of the Season- Family Vocation: God’s Calling in Marriage, Parenting, and Childhood

Spring is in the air! Time for me to recommend to you a new book! One of my favorite authors is Gene Veith, the provost and professor of literature at Patrick Henry College and one of the foremost Lutheran thinkers out there today. He writes in such a clear style and is able to communicate his thoughts effectively to Christians at every level of knowledge. Plus, he is an expert on and often writes about one of my favorite topics: Christian vocation. His newest book, co-authored with his daughter, Deaconess Mary Moerbe, is entitled: Family Vocation: God’s Calling in Marriage, Parenting, and Childhood.

Vocation is the way that God works through human beings. Vocation is faith being called to go to work. Our work is loving and serving the people that God has placed into our lives. For me, vocation is the true purpose-driven life. You don’t have to go searching for your purpose in life by doing a bunch of spiritual gift inventories or by searching out the “ministry” that suits you so you can really serve God. God has already given you a purpose in life, and that is to fulfill your vocation! Veith points this out in his book:

Christians, too, can feel that their everyday lives have no meaning. They want to escape their mundane lives by means of transcendent spiritual experience. In 1 Corinthians 5, we see that believers can also imagine a disconnect between their daily lives and the faith they profess…Common is the notion that they have to do ‘spiritual things’- church work, or Bible study or witnessing- in order to serve God, sometimes at the expense of their families. This devaluing of ordinary life can be so firmly rooted in our expectations that many Christians will accept only extraordinary supernatural experiences as counting for their spiritual lives, while missing God’s presence in the ordinary and the everyday.

God does not need our service. God does not need our good works. The purpose of vocation, and our purpose in life, is not to “serve God.” It is to serve our neighbor. Again, from Family Vocation:

(Christians) assume that ‘church work’ is holier and more spiritually significant than spending time with their families or attending to their vocations…It is easy to become so busy with ‘spiritual’ activities that we neglect our marriages and our children. But the work of our vocations is also a ‘spiritual activity’ that God specifically calls us to.

Luther believed that changing a baby’s diaper is a holier work than that of all the monks in all the monasteries. Why? Because the mother and the father are loving and serving their child. In God’s eyes, this is holy. And so are the other works of family life, from having sex with your spouse to driving your kids to soccer practice.

I have observed this concept that volunteering at church is somehow both a necessary part of a Christian’s life but also somehow a holier work than simply loving and serving our family. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love our volunteers. We could not function very well at all without the countless volunteers we have at church. For those who have the time to volunteer and serve in this capacity, that is another vocation that God has placed you in. The danger is when we almost make serving “at church” a requirement and make people feel guilty when they do not have time to do it. Another danger is one we Christians always struggle with and that is self-righteousness, again, the idea that church is holier or more spiritual.

Gene Veith puts the focus back on the family because our family relationships are our primary, God-given relationships. I have not finished the book yet, but I already can recommend it based on what I have read and what others have written about it. (I have listed some other reviews below.) Definitely check this book out to discover what it means to have a vocation and how God works through us to love and serve our family members.

“Gene Veith is one of the most powerful thinkers and apologists in the Christian world today. In Family Vocation, Veith and Moerbe have really hit the mark—we must learn to think of marriage and families as vocations from God. Here is an ancient and sacred vision of marriage and family that we would do well to understand, promote, and most importantly live out.”

—Charles Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

“A great president once referred to the family as the ‘unseen pillar of civilization.’ He was right, and so is Gene Veith in this luminous book, which underscores the centrality of family, marriage, and parenting. Timely and absorbing, this book arrives on the scene at exactly the right time.”

—Tim Goeglein, Vice President, Focus on the Family

“Family Vocation is a thorough and thoughtful look at family as a calling from God. Using Martin Luther’s teaching on family living as a starting point, Gene Veith and his daughter Mary Moerbe have produced a foundational book addressing all the callings of family life. In a marketplace in which so many family books only scratch the surface, Family Vocation digs down deep. The things I look for in a book on family are all here: a focus on nurture, the priority of internal change, and the power of grace and the gospel to enable. A worthy read!”

—Tedd Tripp, pastor, author, international conference speaker

“The phrase ‘gospel-centered’ has become almost a cliché when describing Christian writing. Every Christian author would desire such an epitaph for his or her work. However, in so many books, especially those dealing with family, gospel-centered deteriorates into ‘be like Jesus.’ Family Vocation is the epitome of what gospel-centered truly means. The authors introduce it plainly, ‘The gospel—that is, the message of Christ crucified for sinners—relates to every moment of the believer’s life.’ Every chapter has its foundation, built not upon what we do in our various vocations, but upon what God has done in Christ. This approach to vocation is the means through which Christian families can truly be strengthened and restored, and then bring their influence to bear on our culture.”

—James I. Lamb, Executive Director, Lutherans for Life

“The ageless questions we’ve pondered about marriage, divorce, sexuality, and parenting are asked candidly and answered faithfully by Veith and Moerbe in this timely application of Luther’s doctrine of vocation. The word family has been hijacked by our culture and Christians reel with each new and dysfunctional incarnation of the concept. What is family? What is marriage? What is God’s call to be a husband, wife, parent, or child? The authors offer rich, biblical responses to these questions and bring clarity to our understanding about cross-bearing love and sacrifice. Family Vocation is sure to find a home on the desks of pastors, teachers, and counselors who seek an engaging resource for Bible classes, spiritual care conversations, and godly counsel. This book leads the way to abiding grace and hope in God’s promises—a ‘need-to-read’ for Christian husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons!”

—Beverly K. Yahnke, Department Chair of Social Sciences, Concordia University Wisconsin

“Martin Luther identified marriage and family as one of three fundamental estates of human life instituted by God for the good of his creation. In this book, a father and daughter team up to bring Luther’s rich insights into the twenty-first century in a way that challenges and encourages Christians to see the family as the arena for God’s work. In an age when the fabric of the family is strained by cultural forces of self-interest and hedonism, this book suggests a way forward for Christian families to see life together as husband/wife, parent/child—encompassed in vocation lived out under the cross.”

—John T. Pless, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, Concordia Theological Seminary

“In the church today, there is no more significant issue than the family. This divine institution is in the crosshairs of every evil plan and purpose of the Devil himself. Take down the family, and with it go education, order, decency, law, church, and even faith. How my years in a struggling inner-city parish taught me that the gospel does not thrive in a community of chaos, dilapidation, crime, and disorder! The root cause of it, as I came to be convinced, is institutional and spiritual forces attacking the stability of God’s best agent for good in both the kingdom of the civil realm and that of the church—the family. What was once more commonly an urban reality has become a rural and suburban way of life. As we all struggle in the families we have—often rag-tag rings of sinners, sometimes a patchwork quilt of multiple families and forces—we need Christ and the vocation to forgive.”

—Matthew Harrison, President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Justin Bieber, Beware of Christians, and Hating Religion

What’s the “in” thing to do in Christianity? Why, it’s hating on the institutionalized church of course! Most often, this trendy topic focuses on hating religion but loving Jesus. The latest to jump on the church-bashing bandwagon is Justin Bieber. (I am so excited to have a reason to talk about the Biebs on my blog! Ooh! I think I’ll even add a picture. That will get the Internet traffic!) OK! Now that I have that taken care of, I should probably explain why Bieber Fever is making an appearance on my blog. If you haven’t heard (and seriously, why haven’t you?) Justin has gotten a new tattoo! His newest tattoo joins the ranks of his other tattoos which display symbols of Christianity. He already had the name Jesus inked on his body in Hebrew. He has a tattoo of praying hands. His newest “tat” (or is it “tatt?”) is a picture of Jesus’ head wearing the crown of thorns. Pretty bold display of his faith I think. I have no problem with Justin’s choice of tattoos. ( I personally would have gone this direction, but whatever.)

Here is what I want to talk about however. In a recent interview with V Magazine, Justin had this to say about his faith and about going to church. (Read the article here.)

”A lot of people who are religious, I think they get lost,” he tells V Magazine in the February issue (via Gossip Cop). “They go to church just to go to church.”

Justin, however, is not that way. He believes that he can still be a religious person without going to church.

“I’m not trying to disrespect them,” Bieber explains, “but for me, I focus more on praying and talking to Him. I don’t have to go to church.”

Now, Justin does not say anything to bash the church directly, but the idea behind his statement falls right in line with popular thought. The thought is basically, religion=bad, spirituality=good. Institutionalized church=bad, Me and Jesus=good. In Bieber’s case, this means that I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. With other people, it means that the church has got it all wrong and is bunch of hypocrites and haters. For others, it means we have to concentrate not on “doing church” (worshiping in a building) but on “being the church” (serving others.)

Perhaps you have seen this video which blew up the Internet a couple of months ago:

Now apparently this was not the intention, but due to some unclear language, many people have responded to this video by saying, “Yeah! Religion stinks! The church is awful! I can be a Christian on my own terms! I can believe whatever I want to believe!” (They always yell their responses, hence the exclamation points.)

Just recently, I also came across this trailer for a documentary.

This documentary looks very interesting, and I would like to watch it. However, even just watching the trailer it sounds like the same ol’ message. The institutionalized church is no good. You have to discover your own brand of Christianity. Everything you learned growing up in church is no good. (You may not have gotten this out of the trailer, but you can learn more on the official website.) Plus, their official tagline is: “A movie about leaving religion to follow Jesus.”

The problem with this “bashing religion” movement is that Jesus seems to like religion. What Jesus doesn’t like, and what Christians should not like is “false religion.” This is the religion of the Pharisees who became very legalistic and were concerned with following the letter of the law, laws that they themselves made up. Certainly, many Christian churches can be accused of false religion and being Pharisaical. For example, the guys who made “Beware of Christians” came from churches that seem to be very legalistic e.g. no drinking. They have made up their own rules and are concerned with following the letter of the law. However, no one today makes the distinction between religion and false religion. It’s all religion, and by religion, they do seem to direct their anger toward the institutionalized church.

They seem to have forgotten who established the church. That would be Jesus. “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Jesus blesses the gathering of his people for worship by saying “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” In Hebrews 10, the writer exhorts Christians “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Sorry, Justin)

Jesus has established his church as the place where He meets His people in Word and Sacrament. In worship, God’s Word is proclaimed and Jesus is delivered through the absolution of sins, the reading of the Bible, the preaching of the pastor and through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.

Look, I understand the accusations of hypocrisy. The church is guilty of accusations of hypocrisy when it focuses on what we should do as opposed to what Jesus has done. All of God’s people are guilty of hypocrisy in our daily lives. But the Christian religion, which Jesus established, is not about me and my works. It is about Jesus. His life, His death, His resurrection for me and you. It is about God’s grace received in faith for the forgiveness of sins. It is about the natural fruit of faith (good works) which is produced by those who are connected to the true Vine. It is about the body of Christ, the church, gathering together to be strengthened by the Head of the church, Jesus Himself, as He comes in Word and Sacrament.

Final thoughts then: Justin- go to church. Yes, beware of false Christians. Hate false religion. If you do have a church which emphasizes the Law and what Christians must do instead of the Gospel and what Jesus has done, don’t reject the Church or “religion” altogether. Find a different church. Might I suggest a Lutheran church. We aren’t perfect. We are full of hypocritical sinners. But we are honest about that, and we confess our sins every week and beg for God’s mercy. And we teach and preach Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. We do not teach that faith is found inside of us because that just leads to a reliance on emotion. We teach that faith is found “outside ourselves” in Jesus through the Word and the Sacraments. That’s where Jesus said He can be found, and we take him at His word. We humans are too fickle to rely solely on our own feelings or just “talking and praying to God.” If Justin, and the Youtube guy and the documentary guys want to truly follow Jesus, then embracing His religion and gathering together to hear His Word is where He is leading us.

For some great responses to the “I Hate Religion But Love Jesus” video, check out these three:

 

 

Don’t Look At Me!

Alright, this is my last post reflecting on Tullian Tchividjian’s book Jesus+Nothing=Everything. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as evidenced by the four posts dedicated to it. It was neat to read how a popular Evangelical pastor rediscovered the true Gospel message and how it has changed his life and his ministry. Many of the people who influenced him in his journey were Lutheran theologians, and as I read his book, I could see the Lutheran influence in his discoveries. (The only thing he is missing is Lutheran sacramental theology, but I can’t ask for everything.)

Tchividjian’s main purpose in this book is to recover the true message of God’s Word from a person-focused center to a Jesus-focused center. He recognized that much of popular evangelical theology focuses on what Christians must do and how they can improve instead of focusing on God and what He has already done through Jesus. Tchividjian refers to this teaching as “performancism” which is just another word for “legalism.” Legalism has been present in the church ever since Bible times. One of the temptations in legalism is to read yourself into all the Bible stories and make them about you.

For example, in the story of David and Goliath, a “me-focused” interpretation would be to place myself in David’s shoes and talk about how I can defeat my giant enemies with God’s help. To take it even further, the five stones all represent some sort of spiritual attribute that I can use to knock down giants. A proper, Jesus-focused interpretation of this story recognizes that David defeating Goliath points forward to Jesus’ battle with sin, death and Satan. Like David, Jesus stands in the place of His people and takes on the enemy that we could never defeat by ourselves. David caught off the head of Goliath. Jesus crushed the head of Satan. Just as David was chosen and anointed by God to be the leader and king of his people, Jesus was chosen and anointed by God to be our Savior and King.

A proper understanding of Scripture means that we will come to realize that the Bible is not primarily about me and what I must do, but rather it is about God and what He has done and continues to do for me. That doesn’t mean that we cannot learn anything about ourselves and the Christian life through stories like David and Goliath. But these stories are first and foremost about God, specifically God the Son, Jesus Christ. Tchividjian gets at this in his book:

The gospel doesn’t take you deeper into yourself; the gospel takes you away from yourself. That’s why Paul reminds the Colossians (and us), ‘You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:3). The gospel frees us to realize that, while we matter, we’re not the point…The gospel causes us to look up and out, away from ourselves. It turns our gaze upward to God and outward to others, both to those inside the church and to those outside it. The gospel causes us to love God and to love others, which of course is how Jesus summed up the entirety of the law.

And some more from Tchividjian:

Reminded of the gospel, we’re reminded that sin enslaves by making us big; the gospel frees by making us small. Our self-esteem culture would have us believe that the bigger we become, the freer we’ll be. But the gospel turns that on its head- the smaller we become, the freer we will be. We begin to decrease; Christ begins to increase. The world says the more independent you become, the freer and stronger you’ll be; the gospel says the more dependent on God you become, the freer and stronger you’ll be.

This is true freedom. A proper understanding of the Gospel means that we do not have to be plagued by guilt as we look inside ourselves and see, not moral improvement, but sin. The gospel points us away from ourselves and toward Jesus. Legalism and “performancism” leaves us open to accusations of hypocrisy because we point to ourselves and pat ourselves on the back at the improvement we have made. When we grasp the true Gospel message, we can take comfort in the fact that it isn’t up to my performance. We can tell Satan who wants to accuse us in our sin through other people “Don’t look at me! I am not the standard. Look at Jesus! I am perfect because of Him only.” And when God looks at you, He sees you through the lens of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t see your works or your lack thereof; He sees Christ’s works, his life, death, and resurrection, for you.

What a great promise! I encourage all of you to read Tchividjian’s book and rediscover the Gospel message for yourself. I will leave you with one last quote.

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others, because your identity is in Christ, not in your place. Now you can spend your energy going to the back instead of getting to the front, because your identity is in Christ, not in your position. You can also spend your life giving, not taking, because your identity is in Christ, not in your possessions. All this is our new identity- all because of Christ’s finished work to us in the gospel.

Grow Up!

I used to think that growing as a Christian meant I had to somehow go out and obtain the qualities and attitudes I was lacking. To really mature, I needed to find a way to get more joy, more patience, more faithfulness, and so on…What the Bible teaches is that we mature as we come to a greater realization of what we already have in Christ. The gospel, in fact, transforms us precisely because it’s not itself a message about our internal transformation but about Christ’s external substitution. From Jesus+Nothing=Everything by Tullian Tchividjian

What is the life of sanctification all about? How do Christians mature in their faith? How exactly do you measure spiritual growth? These are important questions because there are so many wrong answers out there. Actually, there is probably only one wrong answer, but it takes many different forms. The wrong answer is legalism or to borrow from Tchividjian again, “performancism.” The idea is that justification is all about what God does and sanctification or spiritual growth is all about what I must now do.

Sanctification according to legalism focuses on my actions, on my need or desire to get better. Legalism ignores the cross and what Christ has done. It pushes the cross into the past and focuses on the present and what you are doing to stay in God’s good favor.We get fooled into thinking that we have to earn our keep in God’s good graces. Remember how Tchividjian  puts it: I have to get more joy, more patience, more faithfulness, more sincerity, more love, more (insert Christan attribute here) in order to prove that I am a Christian and that I am growing.

Now don’t get me wrong. Having more joy, more patience, and more faithfulness are all good things. But these are natural fruits that are produced from a life connected to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are not some measuring stick in order to keep your room  in heaven. You aren’t gaining any favor with God by gaining new abilities. Actually when we think this way we are putting all the attention on ourselves. We are putting ourselves back under the law of Moses from which Jesus died to free us! As Tchividjian puts its,

Ironically, when we focus mostly on our need to get better, we actually get worse. We become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with our effort instead of with God’s effort for us makes us increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective.

So what is the life of sanctification really about? It’s about Jesus’ death and resurrection. How do Christians truly mature in their faith? By relying on Jesus.

Think of it this way: sanctification is the daily hard work of going back to the reality of our justification. It’s going back to the certainty of our objectively secured pardon in Christ and hitting the refresh button a thousand times a day. Or, as Martin Luther so aptly put it in his Lectures on Romans, ‘To progress is always to begin again.’ Real spiritual progress, in other words, requires a daily going backwards. Tchividjian

God's grace is a vast, endless ocean

Sanctification is still about Jesus’ work! Jesus has set you free from the Law! Yet we constantly try to get back under it because we are so trained in the mindset that we have to do something, we have to earn our keep, we have to make the grade. Real Christian maturity and spiritual growth comes with a deeper realization that we by cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him or get any better. Real Christian maturity and spiritual growth comes with a greater understanding that we must decrease, and Jesus must increase. The truly mature Christian plunges into the deep ocean of God’s grace. Spiritual growth occurs when we stop trying to please God by our efforts and realize that God has already given us his approval through Jesus. Once we’re already approved and accepted by God in Christ, we can freely follow God’s lead and grow in doing his will out of genuine gratitude for his amazing grace and without any fear of judgment or condemnation when we fail. And you will fail. Over and over again. Every day of your life. But your failures have been overcome by Christ’s death! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” 1 Corinthians 15:57