Life in Christ; January 13, 2020

Posted on January 16, 2020 by jgarrott

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

I quote this verse so frequently that it’s one of the few I am completely confident of chapter and verse. That said, I am usually quoting either the first half or the last, and seldom the whole thing. The first half is a very concise and useful description of the devil that’s important to keep in mind when he offers his various enticements. They all seem attractive in some way at first, but their purpose is exactly as Jesus says here: to to steal what is good from us, to kill what is good in us, and as much as possible to destroy God’s plans for us, which are the very definition of good. The second half is Jesus’ very succinct description of His own ministry, and that can take a lifetime to unpack. In the first place, Jesus came to bring life. As He said several times in various ways, He Himself is eternal life. (John 14:6, etc.) As the clever t-shirt says, “No Jesus, no life. Know Jesus, know life.” John was sharply aware of this, because his own brother was the first of the apostles to be martyred, (Acts 12:2) but he himself, though he endured great hardship and persecution, was the only one of the original 12 to die what is considered a natural death. He had tasted the reality that Jesus isn’t stingy with Himself, but gives life abundantly to all who will receive it. One of our problems in receiving all that God wants to give us is our definition of abundance. We tend to tie it to material goods, and at the least to our own appetites. This has led to the “name it and claim it” school of theology, which is mistaken because it makes man the standard, instead of being totally focused on God’s kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) Some people have been so deceived by that sort of thing that when it collapses they lose their faith in God to a very deep level, which betrays where it came from in the first place. A chorus from over 45 years ago said, “I want more of Jesus, more and more and more. I want more of Jesus than I ever had before. I want more of His great love, so rich and full and free. I want more of Jesus, and He wants more of me.” My father modified the last line of that to say, “so I’ll give Him more of me.” To receive the abundant life that God has provided for us in Christ, we need to let go of everything else. Jesus taught that, (Matthew 13:44-46) but we don’t like to hear it.

If I just quote this verse and fail to apply it in my own life, I’m just deceiving myself. (James 1:22) I have seen countless examples of the devil stealing, killing, and destroying, and I have also tasted the abundant life that is Jesus Himself. There’s no comparison, when it comes to value! This is why my life is dedicated to warning people about the devil and sharing with them the abundance that is Christ. I am almost constantly amazed at the depth of God’s grace and love for me, even when I’m in the middle things like the 3-week cold I’m finally recovering from. I may feel miserable, but God is still good! Last night Cathy tripped in her work room and fell heavily. I set a new record for getting from my study up the stairs to check on her! She has bruises and strains, but nothing broken, and yet again I am reminded that God’s grace is sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9) That in no way contradicts what Jesus says here about abundance, but is a demonstration of how God desires to get us through the troubles we experience in our time on this fallen world. As Jesus said, I need to rejoice! (John 16:33)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I really have no words to thank You sufficiently for the magnificence of Your grace toward me. Help me live out my life in gratitude and obedience, so that as many as possible may know You through me, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abiding; January 12, 2020

Posted on January 16, 2020 by jgarrott

John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Verse 32 is widely quoted, but almost always out of the context of verse 31. We like the idea of being set free by knowledge alone, but we don’t like the precondition of obedience. It is fascinating that Jesus said this immediately after the events leading up to verse 30: “Even as He spoke, many put their faith in Him.” We get all happy the moment anyone believes, and that’s not wrong, but Jesus immediately set about “winnowing out the chaff,” so to speak. This is the opposite of “easy believeism.” He was essentially saying, “So you like what you heard? Stick with it, if you want the full benefit.” Modern society knows very little of “holding to” or “abiding in” something. We tend to be all about instant gratification, wanting what we want when we want it, but that is the opposite of genuine maturity. If we are genuinely “seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness,” (Matthew 6:33) then we will set the distractions aside to focus on God and what He has said to us. Jesus said a lot about “abiding” in the Upper Room Discourse just before He was crucified, sometimes using the word and sometimes not. (John 13-17) Actually, the theme permeates the whole New Testament, as my father discovered when he wrote his dissertation on “In Christ.” However, he told me that he didn’t really understand it until after he was in Japan as a missionary, and he had an encounter with the Holy Spirit in which he opened himself up in a commitment to obedience. In other words, it was a clear-cut choice to abide in Christ, in His Word, in His Spirit. If we want to be set free by the truth, we need to be committed to follow the truth.

This is something in which I continue to grow, and in which I expect to continue to grow until I am before God’s throne. It’s been 64 years since I was baptized, and it’s been quite a journey so far. I am constantly confronted with the choice of following Christ and His Word, or the world and my flesh. Thankfully that choice is more and more automatic, but I must not take it for granted, and I must not assume that I automatically discern the choice correctly. Deception is the devil’s specialty, and I’ve got to be on my guard. (1 Peter 5:8) I need to let God’s Word “percolate” through me, or to use another metaphor, to “chew the cud” of the Word so that I may live it out in fullness. (John 15:7) Only then will I walk in the freedom of being Christ’s disciple indeed.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder. I’m speaking on “Born Again” this morning, but this is the natural and necessary outgrowth of that. I pray that Your Word would flow unhindered through me so that many would receive it with joy and let it transform them into Your disciples indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Approval; January 11, 2020

Posted on January 15, 2020 by jgarrott

John 5:44 “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

Jesus is here talking to the religious leaders, and particularly to the Pharisees, whom today we would think of as “Bible-believing Christians.” Their highest honor was to be on the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a political as well as a religious body, and politicians are particularly sensitive to the opinions of others. The Sanhedrin wasn’t chosen by open elections among the people the way legislatures in democracies are, but it was still a very exclusive club into which you had to be invited. They were all doubtless concerned about the praise of their peers. Jesus was pointing out that such a focus took them out of the realm of the spiritual entirely, regardless of how religious they seemed. If we fail to seek the praise of God we are operating on strictly human rules, whatever terminology we might use. That’s what Jesus was talking about when He referred to God’s righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) Seeking God’s righteousness means seeking to live so that He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, 23) That isn’t something we can do once and be done with it, but something we need to do consistently, day after day after day. Frankly, we can get tired of following God, when things don’t turn out the way our human imaginations would like them to. That’s what “faithful” is all about: dogged determination and obedience regardless of circumstances. When our focus is on pleasing God, we will find that our faith grows more than we realize, because we aren’t believing in faith, we are believing in the One who is before and beyond and above all things, because He created it all.

I enjoy the praise and approval of others as much as anyone, so I must be careful not to make that my goal. I desire great, mountain-moving faith, but I have seen many people who seem to have faith in faith, even more than faith in God Himself. Like the father of the epileptic boy, I find myself crying out, “Lord, I believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) My focus has got to be on my Lord, caring about what He thinks of me and not about much else. I am often reminded that everything physical is temporary, so making that my treasure is futile. However, approval isn’t physical, and it can be very seductive. There have been times when I have actually fantasized about the eulogies at my funeral, being hungry for the praise of men. What foolishness! My heart needs to be fixed on my Lord, and what He says of me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do care what people think of me. That’s not wrong, but help me care far more what You think of me, so that Your will may reign in my life. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dependence on God; January 10, 2020

Posted on January 15, 2020 by jgarrott

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

I am frequently reminded that apart from Christ I can do nothing, (John 15:5) but I don’t often think about the fact that even Jesus could do nothing except what He saw the Father doing. We have a lot to learn about the Trinity! This awareness in Jesus obviously affected everything He did, all the way to His prayer in Gethsemane. (Mark 14:36) We tend to operate in the illusion of independence, when we all exist only by the grace and mercy of God. That God has indeed given us free will is one of the greatest mysteries and miracles of the universe. That’s why it’s absurd to the point of being laughable when we rebel against God (and we all do that at times). Any parent who has raised small children has experienced the child wanting to do things that are far beyond them, but with a little discreet assistance from the parent, those things get done. The child will often enough crow about them as though they were personal accomplishments, when actually they were done by the parent for the most part. We are very much like that with Father God, but most of the time we don’t even realize it. We would do well to realize that if even Jesus couldn’t do anything on His own, we are far more helpless without His power and grace operating through us.

This is of great importance to me, because so few things in life have seemed terribly difficult (other than sports-related things). I have taken for granted the gifts God has given me in words, music, and various other things, and too often forgotten that those things don’t originate in me. It’s not just that He’s smart and I’m not, (as He had to speak to me personally before I could really grasp it) it’s that He is the source of everything good. (James 1:17) We are indeed created in His image, (Genesis 1:27) which means we have the potential for creativity of our own, but we must remember that it all stems from the Father of Lights. When it all comes from Him, then I’ve got to be careful that it’s all directed back to Him, accomplishing that for which He intended it and giving glory to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s interesting that I still need such reminders! Help me indeed operate in all that You have spoken to me, through Your Word and otherwise, so that I may be Your agent indeed, doing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hearing and Obeying; January 9, 2020

Posted on January 11, 2020 by jgarrott

John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Sometimes there are many differences in nuance between the English and Japanese translations of a passage, but here there is only one that jumps out at me. Where the NIV says “rejects,” the Japanese says, “doesn’t listen obediently.” There is actually a standard expression in Japanese that is, very simply, “listen and obey.” Its origins are probably wrapped up in the Japanese feudal system – bushido, the way of the warrior – that taught absolute obedience to one’s lord. I have become convinced that God has scattered gems of truth in every culture and language, which is why the Body of Christ is incomplete without representation from every one of those cultures and languages. Going back to this verse, we tend to put a more overt definition on “reject,” when in fact, simply failing to obey what you hear Christ speaking to you is rejecting Him. Any parent can tell you what that’s like, whether they have two-year-olds or teenagers! However, John the Baptist said that is inviting God’s abiding wrath, and that is dangerous indeed. Those who grow up in Christian cultures are tempted to take Christ, and indeed the whole Bible, for granted. That puts us in the position of deceiving ourselves, just as James said. (James 1:22) If we want to walk in the eternal life of Christ – and who doesn’t – then we must remember that it is a walk of obedience.

This certainly applies to me! Raised in a faithful missionary family, baptized at seven by my own volition and reading the Bible through by the time I was 10, I had Christian (and I don’t just mean American) culture down pat. I can’t remember consciously rejecting God, but there were certainly times when I didn’t want to listen, much less obey! It was devastating to me when, not long after my 24th Birthday, the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and, when I turned, showed me a mirror to see the state of my own soul. I collapsed to my knees, crying out, “My Lord and my God!” He had pulled back the web of lies the devil had used to blind me to my own condition, and I will be eternally grateful. I wish I could say that I have listened obediently with perfect consistency since then, but that would hardly be accurate. At least now I know how untrustworthy my own impulses are, so that I seek God’s guidance as much as possible ahead of time. He has used a minor little thing to help train me. When driving, if I use my own mind to calculate which lane is moving faster, trying to gain an advantage, I almost always end up taking more time than otherwise. However, if I consciously submit my mind to Him and let Him tell me to change lanes, I am always ahead of the game. In fact, I have avoided getting involved in accidents that way! I don’t want to reject God in any way, but listen obediently so that I may walk in His life/light/lane at all times, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for Your incredible faithfulness. Thank You that You are always worth listening to! Thank You for all that You are doing in this church. Thank You that my cold seems much better, and that I was able to sleep in the bed all night, rather than having to switch to the chair. It’s been about a week since I was able to do that, which gives me a heightened appreciation for the simple blessing of being able to sleep in bed. Help me walk in full gratitude at all times, knowing that even hard training is evidence of Your grace, so that I may indeed hear You accurately and obey You fully, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Born Again; January 8, 2020

Posted on January 10, 2020 by jgarrott

John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

This whole passage through verse 21 is thoroughly familiar, containing as it does the most famous verse in the whole Bible. In recent years I have paid a lot of attention to verses 19-21, which speak of truth and light. So, I was quite curious as to what the Lord would bring to my attention this morning. In the first place, it struck me that we owe Nicodemus a debt of gratitude, because it was his courage, as a member of the Sanhedrin, to seek Jesus out, even at night, that triggered this fountain of marvelous teaching. He got more than he could have imagined! Within all this marvelous teaching, I feel the Lord saying that it is this bit that is most being ignored in many churches. We give lip service to “being born again,” yet we don’t really teach on what it means and we hardly recognize it when it happens. With cultural Christianity we tend to feel people are born Christian from their mother’s womb, whether or not our church practices infant baptism. Churches have so little power because they operate in the flesh, when Jesus is saying clearly that is totally inadequate. Some people have used verse five to insist on “baptismal regeneration,” saying that we can’t be born again until we are immersed in the water of baptism, but there are too many other Bible passages that contradict that. I personally feel the “water” here refers to the very wet process of physical birth. In other words, everyone is born of water, but unless you are also born of the Spirit, you haven’t been born again. Some people are born again very dramatically and some people are born again over a period of time, but the nature of the person has to change, from flesh to spirit. I was in a pretty traditional church back in 1972 when a rodeo rider (we were in Denver) was dramatically born again. There were frankly not a few church members who were somewhat openly in opposition to him, because as a brand new Christian he hadn’t “dotted the ‘i’s and crossed the ‘t’s” of church life. After he moved on (since his work was transient) he wrote letters to our Sunday School class, and they sounded like they were straight from the hand of Paul! (Frankly, that didn’t sit too well with some people either!) We look at people and tend to chain them to their past, when being born again obviously means a new beginning. Infants are naturally infantile, spiritually as well as physically, but you’ve got to be born before you can really grow, and we tend to ignore spiritual birth.

As a pastor, this can be painful to think about. How many of my flock are genuinely born again? How many of the people I have baptized were born again when that happened, or are born again even now? I could be a poster child for cultural Christianity, when my parents were missionaries, one grandfather was a pastor and the other a seminary professor, and at least one great-grandfather was a pastor. I can’t remember ever not knowing about Jesus. We have records that I proclaimed my love for Jesus as young as five, and I clearly remember when, at age seven, I went to my parents saying that I wanted to be baptized because I wanted Jesus in my heart. None of that was bad or wrong, but I honestly cannot say exactly when I was born again. I can say, however, that God has rescued me from my flesh and given me life by His Spirit. I am painfully aware that I cannot save anyone, that I cannot force them to be born again. Accordingly, I need to let them know that it’s possible, and that God will do the job if they will repent and submit to Him in faith.

Father, sometimes I feel like I never volunteered for nursery duty, but that’s what being a pastor is. Help me function effectively as a midwife and a wet nurse, nurturing believers and teaching them to “chow down on” Your Word for themselves, so that they may be the healthy, active children You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Logic; January 7, 2020

Posted on January 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 20:38-39 “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!”

I get several things from this. The first is that God doesn’t abandon logic, and neither should we. There are people on both sides of the fence who seem to think faith eliminates (or should) logic. That is a lie of the devil. Whereas it is true that God’s works are far greater than human minds can comprehend, (Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 4:7, etc.) that doesn’t mean at all that our minds are to be discarded. I have heard believing scientists speak of the joy of discovering the marvelous logic in creation. That said, logic alone won’t save us; we have to step out to act on God’s gracious offer of salvation. The second thing I get from this is that honest people can be persuaded. The teachers of the law mentioned here genuinely loved truth more than they loved their political or theological positions. That is valuable indeed! I would be quite confident that the men mentioned here were soon included among the believers after Pentecost. I am reminded of the doctor who, after a year of attending an English Bible class that I taught, rather abruptly announced that he wanted to be baptized. I was naturally pleased, but I asked him to explain himself. He said, “This book was obviously not written just by man, and if God caused it to be written, then I had better believe it!” His decision was so logical and intellectual that for a while I was a little concerned about it, but he quickly also demonstrated the joy of the Lord, and he hasn’t abandoned his faith in the 30 years since then. Family considerations keep him from attending Sunday morning services, but he regularly gives Christian materials to other members of the Omura Medical Association.

This of course applies to me. He has allowed me to interact with numbers of highly educated people, and He equipped me with the intellect to be able to do so on an even footing. At the same time, He has given me the direct revelation that He’s smart and I’m not. I am to make full use of all that He has given me, but never depend on the gift ahead of the Giver. I am not to be afraid of any argument brought against me, but remember that “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) Apologetics and polemics aren’t my specific calling, but I am to remember that the Holy Spirit is more than able to express the logic and wisdom of God through me, if I will be submitted and obedient.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank you that no one is out of Your reach, and that You care about each human being. Help me be more and more effective in communicating the Good News of Your kingdom to all I encounter, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Conflict; January 6, 2020

Posted on January 8, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 20:18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

What happened to “gentle Jesus, meek and mild?” This isn’t the image we usually have of Christ, but Jesus kept dropping hints of this sort throughout His ministry. Perhaps the most famous of those is, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34) We are not to seek conflict, but we are not to be surprised by it or even necessarily avoid it. Paul told us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18) However, it doesn’t always depend on us, and trouble will come looking for us. Paul was very blunt with Timothy: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12) He was actually only echoing what Jesus had said in the Upper Room just before His crucifixion: “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20) That’s why the words here are so important, and should be both comforting and encouraging. When we are in Christ, whatever is true of Him is true of us, so this assures us of ultimate victory. Those who come against us don’t stand a chance! Again, we are not to seek conflict, but we are never to be afraid of it. Whatever might happen to us physically on this earth, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

In my own life I have a strong conflict-avoidance response, and that isn’t always good. For example, I’m not to be politically correct just to avoid conflict, because that can easily block me from speaking the truth in love, if that truth happens to step on some toes. I’m not to go looking for conflict, as I’ve already said, but neither am I to run from it, if others bring it. The important thing is that I abide in Christ. Considering what He suffered, that is no guarantee of an easy road, but it is absolute assurance of victory! If I am in Him and people trip and fall on me to their own destruction, as this verse talks about, that is their issue and not mine. However, in practical terms that isn’t always going to be comfortable for me. I’ve got to keep remembering one of my favorite verses: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Father, thank You for this reminder. At the moment my major conflict is with whatever the bug is that has given me this long-running cold. Thank You that doctor’s offices are open again from today so I can be seen. Thank You for getting me through the day yesterday, just as You got me through the wedding on Saturday. I pray that there would be full agreement with Your healing for me, since You alone are my Healer. (Exodus 15:26) May I be Your agent to the doctor and his staff, drawing them to You through Your presence in me, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disciples; January 5, 2020

Posted on January 8, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 16:15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

Well, the point about Jesus not being politically correct certainly comes through! He never failed to speak truth, even when it made enemies for Him, but He always did so in love. Here He is really telling the Pharisees, “Why don’t you rearrange your priorities and love what God loves?” He was stripping away their self-justification and telling them how wrong they were, not to condemn them but to give them an opportunity to repent. It has been said, in a somewhat jesting manner, that Jesus came “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” There’s a lot of truth in that! We tend to care what people think of us, but what really matters is what our Creator thinks of us, and whether He is satisfied with the performance of His handiwork. I keep coming back to the awareness that God is far more concerned with what we are than with what we do. However, what we are will certainly be expressed in what we do! When Jesus said to those following Him “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) He was pointing out that they were followers and not really disciples. Being a follower isn’t bad, but we are called both to be and to make disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20) A disciple not only watches what the Master does and listens to Him, he is also instantly obedient, often anticipating what the Master would have him do because he is so familiar with the ways of the Master. God wants us to be disciples, and not just act like one in front of people so they will admire us. God knowing our hearts is both scary and comforting. It is scary if we think we have to perform to please Him, but if we understand that it’s all about being a child of God, then we can indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in Him.

I am having a bit of refresher training in this right now. I am currently in what I trust are the last stages of what has been literally the worst cold I have had in years. I have to be explicit in trusting God for the strength to do anything He asks of me. Yesterday He got me through performing a wedding, and I was amazed, but by yesterday evening the symptoms were back. This morning we have worship, and my message is explaining the Scripture for the Year that the Lord gave me. I consider that very important, but I’ve got to leave it in His hands. I am learning to rest on what the Lord told Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Frankly, I don’t enjoy weakness, but if it allows my Lord to manifest Himself for His glory, then bring it on.

Father, thank You for the assurance that You will indeed get me through this morning’s service, and the special New Year’s meal to follow. Thank You for giving me wisdom to pray for the individual churches from my bed this morning, rather than driving around to them like I do every other Sunday morning. Thank You again for the good crowd we had on Christmas Eve, and for the probability of a good group this morning. I pray that the one couple in particular would come, because You seem to have prepared their hearts. May everything about the day be exactly as You desire, to build up the Body of Christ for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Theologians; January 4, 2019

Posted on January 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 11:42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”

“Politically correct” is hardly a term you could use to describe Jesus! That’s another indication that the whole political correctness movement is of the devil and not of God, however “considerate of people’s feelings” it might pretend to be. This particular accusation on His part is of great interest because “experts in the law” would today be called theologians, since it was the Levitical law that was involved. There was something of an explosion of false theology from the late 19th Century up to WWII, largely centered in Austria and Germany. One of the results was preparing the German people to accept, or at least not resist, Hitler, and we know how that turned out. Since WWII the devil hasn’t been resting, and today there are honored, historic seminaries where you can get a degree without ever encountering Jesus Christ the Lord. Such people, with letters after their name, go on to insist that they are the experts, so someone with a genuinely Biblical devotion to Jesus Christ is “misguided.” Frankly, it makes me sick. Then there are the splinter groups that latch onto a particular doctrine and make it a test of purity, sometimes not even accepting as Christian someone who disagrees on the importance of that doctrine. That too breaks the heart of God. Any time we erect human systems between people and God’s Word we are doing the devil’s work. The same goes for the whole clergy/laity divide. God does assign different tasks in the Body of Christ and gifts people accordingly, but that doesn’t change the fundamental truth that God loves us equally and individually, so an unknown from Podunk has as much access to the throne room of God as any Church leader. Anything we do that clouds that reality is a deception of the devil.

This is obviously something I feel pretty strongly about! I come from a family of theologians, but I honestly think they were the good kind. (Grin!) However, that made me sensitive to theological issues from a fairly young age. In seminary, one of the things that grated on me was the the requirement in Preaching class that we quote commentaries, and they had specific “approved” ones that got you better grades. Having read through the Bible for the first time at a young age and having already done so several times by the time I was in Seminary, I had a pretty good grasp of how the Old and New Testaments illuminate each other, and I couldn’t see why I needed anything other than the Bible and the Holy Spirit to deliver messages from the Lord. I still feel that way! Other people’s insights can be illuminating, and knowledge of the culture and language at the time the particular passage was written can certainly be helpful, but I believe in putting as little as possible between people and the Word. In Japan that can have its difficulties, since there is very little cultural understanding of a Biblical worldview, but the Holy Spirit is still trustworthy, and I must never forget it. Teaching Speech Therapy I tell my students that it does little good that they can speak beautifully if they can’t help others speak better. They might be an example, but not a therapist. The same thing applies to me as a pastor. It is vital that I myself am a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ, but my calling is to lead others to become disciples, just as Jesus said in the Great Commission. (Matthew 29:18-20)

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You for the disciples who have come out of my ministry. I pray that there would be many more, and that each of them would in turn raise up disciples for You, so that we ourselves would enter in, and would not hinder anyone else from doing so. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment