JUST DO IT!

Last fall I did a short teaching series based on Romans 12:9-21 for the Home Group that Carol and I were leading.

The first eleven chapters of the book of Romans are heavy with theological truth and insights into God’s plan for the church and Israel. Beginning at chapter twelve, it seems to me that Paul shifts his attention to more personal and practical truths. In the English Standard Version, the passage I taught from is titled, “The Marks of a True Christian.”

This is a very challenging passage. Paul begins with the place of love in the life of a believer: “Let love be genuine.” Far too often Christians say the words, “I love you,” like a slogan, with no real love backing up what they are saying. Paul calls this hypocrisy and says in very loud terms, “Don’t do this! If you don’t love the person, don’t say you do!” This is just the first part of the first verse of this passage and one after another Paul lists the qualities that should be showing forth in the life of believers. This is a very personal and confrontational passage.

Why would Paul do this? Why would he take the time to bring these matters to his Christian friends? Because Paul is a father in the faith and sometimes we need a father to remind us of how we are to live and the qualities that are to exist in our lives. Nobody does that better than this apostle does! He puts his finger right on the end of our nose and says, “Child, it’s time to grow up. Here are some of the qualities that need to be evident in your life if you are going to mature as a believer!”

Try always to remember that what Paul is laying out as the traits or marks of being a mature follower of Christ are not going to suddenly appear fully developed in your life. You don’t get saved one day and the next become a full-grown, mature Christian. You get saved (born again as a baby Christian) and then you go through the same phases as a believer that the natural child does in growing up. You go through childhood (you act like a child, you talk like a child, you learn like a child because you are a child). It does not matter how young or old you are (physical age) when you get saved, spiritually you are going to go through childhood and then adolescence and eventually arrive at adulthood. When you finally get to adulthood, well surprise, but there is still room for growth and change as you are led by the Holy Spirit. And when you finally get “grown up in God” you realize, “My goodness, I know so little and there’s so much more to learn, so much more growth to experience!”

Paul is writing to us in Romans, not to put anyone under condemnation because of failure to achieve but to give us benchmarks, goals to work toward. The pursuit of the qualities that Paul has laid out here are for a lifetime of personal growth.

In summing up this challenging passage, Paul concludes by saying, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (9:21). The essence of what Paul is saying is, “Don’t let the evil of the world system conquer you; don’t let it cause you to live a defeated life! You will triumph over evil by learning to respond — not by doing what your flesh encourages you to do but by responding to what you are learning as a follower of Jesus.”

A key word to understand in this verse is “overcome.” In Greek this word is nikeo (which is sometimes presented in the Greek as nike) and means to overcome, to prevail, to triumph. It is from this Greek word that the famous sportswear company took its name.

In the verses leading up to this finale, Paul has exhorted his church family to respond to evil with good. Paul is a product of this kind of response. I believe that as he stood and watched Stephen being stoned in Acts 7, the evil intent in Paul was shaken by the good in Stephen as he cried out just before his death, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”(Acts 7:60). When Paul was confronted by the Lord on the road to Damascus, I believe the conquering effect of good had already begun to overwhelm the evil in Paul’s heart.

When we respond to evil with a bad attitude then evil wins and that is the whole intention of evil — to destroy the good in you or the good that could have flowed through you. But when we respond to evil with good, then good triumphs every time and Paul was proof that good triumphs over evil.

So . . . just do it! Triumph over evil with good!

(A few months ago I wrote about the final three verses of Romans 12 in a blog entitled “Heap Burning Coals on His Head” [December 21, 2012] and if interested, you can access that article in the archives on this blog site.)

WERE THE RECENT TORNADOS GOD'S JUDGMENT?

In September of 2005, the world was shocked as Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and overwhelmed much of the Gulf Coast. Within days there were reports all over the Internet that the devastating storm was a sign of God’s judgment on the city of New Orleans. I was appalled at the judgmental attitude of many of the so-called “prophetic” pronouncements. One friend told me that he believed God was judging the homosexual community of New Orleans’ famed French Quarter. I responded that God must have lousy aim, because the storm and its aftermath did not devastate the French Quarter or Bourbon Street but, rather, the nearby Lower Ninth Ward. I added that if we followed his line of thinking, God must really dislike the poor and elderly because they were the ones who suffered most.

Following Hurricane Sandy and the recent outbreak of storms in Texas and Oklahoma, again there has been a flood of “voices of judgment” declaring that God is judging America’s sins. If God were really judging America’s sins by a natural disaster, do you honestly think He would start in Moore, OK, and miss the over-ripe targets of New York City; Washington, DC; San Francisco; Hollywood?

Below is the main part of the very first blog article that I wrote in September of 2005 in response to the prophetic statements that Hurricane Katrina was a sign of God’s judgment.

Was Hurricane Katrina a sign of God’s judgment on New Orleans?

The simple answer is NO, it was not judgment! If God were judging the sin of this city then He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. In Genesis 18:32 God said that if there were only ten (10) righteous people in Sodom, He would not destroy it. There were not ten and God did destroy it. In contrast, New Orleans has been home to tens of thousands of believers. I have personally been to several very fine and thriving churches in New Orleans and its suburbs. New Orleans is no more lacking in a community of believers than any other city in America.

If Hurricane Katrina was not God judging New Orleans then what was it?

In Matthew 24:3 Jesus is asked by His disciples, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (ESV). In the next few verses Jesus lays out the following as signs of the end and His return: Deception will be rampant; there will be false Christs and false religions in abundance; wars, rumors of wars; famines; and earthquakes in a diversity of places. 

Jesus then said in verse 8, “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (ESV). In the King James Version and several other translations, the word for birth pains is “sorrows.” The meaning of “sorrows” is that the pains will come with an increasing intensity and an ever-shortening amount of time between each contraction (pain) until the delivery takes place.

Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in South Asia, earthquakes in a diversity of places, tornados across America — these are all a part of God’s wake-up call to those who will listen.

Mark 13 is a parallel passage to Matthew 24. In Mark 13:8 Jesus answers the disciples’ same question as in Matthew with the same list and the statement regarding “birth pains.” And then in Mark, Jesus says this: “Be on your guard” (Mark 13:9, ESV). People who are “on guard” are alert, discerning, prepared; they are not going to be caught unaware. 

I believe that Katrina was one of the “sorrows” Scripture speaks of and there will be more. When I see the devastation covering such a huge geographic area, I am deeply moved. As a family we helped financially. But there was also a spiritual dimension to it all and I found myself being irritated at those who like to be called prophets and who quickly pronounced judgment on New Orleans (from the safety of their home or hotel room many hundreds of miles away). As I tried to understand this disaster of a geographic size we had not seen in America before, I came to the conclusion that this was not judgment but was a definite sign pointing us to the increasing nearness of Christ’s return and the end of the age.

It is time to be alert, to be open and transparent with the Lord. Most likely there will be more “sorrows” even worse than Katrina. God’s people who are “on guard” will be walked by God’s Spirit through those difficult times and will experience His grace and peace in fresh new ways. We are not to be fearful but we are to be faithful and faith-filled; we are not to be slumbering but instead we are to be alert and focused on Him who can keep us in the midst of the fire, the flood, the hurricane, the earthquake. God’s people who are “on guard” are ready to step in and help in any way they can: through prayer, through giving and through personal involvement in caring for the hurting. 

WHAT HAD I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?

I was in Amsterdam, Holland, at the request of an international crusade ministry. The head of the organization had asked me to come to Amsterdam to visit one of their crusades, meet with some of the leadership, and consider assisting the organization in their crusade ministry. I had been to Holland several times before and was delighted to accept their invitation.

The crusade was being held in an arena in one of the suburbs of Amsterdam. Churches from throughout the nation were involved and thousands of people were attending. While the primary crusade services were at night, there were also prayer and teaching services in the morning.

Several days into the crusade, local pastors were being hosted by the crusade ministry for lunch at the hotel where the crusade team was staying. On that particular day I was with the last group of staff to leave the arena to return to the hotel for the luncheon and we missed our assigned ride. The four of us walked to the street in front of the arena and a taxi immediately pulled up and asked if we needed a ride. We got into the car and I sat in the front with the driver, a woman, who began to take us to our hotel, about a 15-minute drive.

We were just a couple of minutes into the drive when the woman asked, “Are you Americans?” One of us replied, “Yes,” and she then asked, “What were you doing at the arena?” I replied that we were there as part of a Christian ministry conducting meetings that were open to the public. I told her that thousands of people were coming from Amsterdam, from surrounding towns, and from all over that part of Western Europe.

The driver then asked, “So what actually goes on in one of those meetings?” I took a few minutes and in very simple terms explained the flow of a crusade service: lots of good music, testimonies, a main speaker, and an opportunity for people to become Christians. I tried not to use too much Christian terminology because I knew that only a small percentage of Dutch people are born-again Christians.

When I finished my short explanation, I didn’t give the driver a chance to ask another question. Instead, I turned to one of the staff and asked her to share with the driver how and why she had become a Christian. I had learned the previous day that this particular staff member had a powerful testimony of deliverance from drug addiction.

The staff member quickly picked up the conversation and in a few minutes shared her story of how she came to Christ and just a little bit about her previous drug problem. Just as the testimony was concluding, the driver steered the taxi into the driveway of our hotel and pulled up to the front entrance.

Stopping the taxi, the driver asked, “Did you notice that we have been followed by a mini-van?” I mumbled, “No, I hadn’t noticed that!” Then the driver pointed out several miniature video cameras mounted and hidden in the taxi. They didn’t look like cameras to me!

Now she really had my attention! What was happening here?

The driver went on, “The van following us has been recording the conversation we have been having here in the taxi. I am the hostess of a prime-time television program that is shown throughout Holland. We use the taxi and pick up people in different places, video record our conversation, and then show the tape on prime-time television. Would you have any problem with our televising the conversation we just had?”

My mind immediately went into overdrive. What had I said? Did I say something that I would be embarrassed by? In just a few seconds I thought through the conversation and suddenly I was taken by the thought that God had arranged this entire event. He had ordered the conversation and I was totally at peace with what had been said. I turned to the driver and said, “I think I’m speaking for everyone by saying that we would be pleased to have this conversation presented on your program!”

A young woman carrying a clipboard loaded with permission forms came out of the van that had been following us. And we all gladly signed the forms!

I honestly do not know if the video was ever used on Dutch TV, as I left Holland a few days later. What I do know is that I am very comfortable with the fact that all of us in the taxi that day were able to give a credible explanation of our “Christian hope.”

Can you? Are you ready to explain your faith in Christ as God creates opportunities for you to do so? There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t know why you gave your life to Jesus; they have no Christian hope!

1 Peter 3:15: “If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it” (NLT).

AS CLOSE AS YOU CHOOSE TO BE

In his book Enjoying Intimacy with God, Oswald Sanders makes the statement, “You are as close to God as you choose to be.” When I first read that statement, it rather irritated me because I felt it put pressure on me. It is saying that if my relationship with God doesn’t develop and deepen, the fault is mine—and that annoys me. Why should I be to blame if I don’t have much of a spiritual life? Is it perhaps because I am guilty? 

The fact is, the Father has established His credibility in this area by opening the door for fellowship and intimacy with His people. God has opened the path to us and it is ours to pursue — or not.

In the Old Testament, God was rather remote, detached from His people. The high priest and the leaders of the land seemed to be the ones who communicated with God. The prophets were another group that would hear from God and then convey His message to the people. In the Temple, the Holy of Holies (where God’s presence abided) was separated from everything else by a four-inch-thick curtain called the veil. Only the high priest could go behind the veil and then only once a year. There is very little indication that God spoke to or mingled with the common people.

That all changed at Calvary. When Jesus died, Scripture says the veil (which symbolized separation from God) was torn into two pieces (Matthew 27:51). The tearing of the veil started at the top, which means that it began because God chose to do it; He wanted the separation gone, done away with. It was His choice to remove the separation and make Himself accessible. God was making a strong statement here and many of us have missed the importance of it. God was saying, “I am opening the door to fellowship, to intimacy, to personal relationship. I’ve done My part by removing the barrier that has been there for thousands of years. The next part is up to you!”

Oswald Sanders deals with this important subject in his classic book by looking at several groups of disciples who chose to be close to Jesus. Each group shows a level of intimacy that is more personal than the previous.

The Crowds – In several places in Mark’s gospel we see references to the large crowds that followed Jesus at certain points in His ministry (Mark 3:7; 6:30-37; 8:1). This is the outer ring of people who do not choose to get close to Him. Instead, they come for the show, for the miracles, and for the food. And even though they come, they do not stay. The moment persecution shows up or the show slows down, these crowds disappear. The crowds are there but there is no relationship with Him and these are the crowds that are now filling many contemporary churches across the country. They come for the teaching on success but not for the prayer and Bible study.

The Seventy – Jesus chose the seventy from among His followers and sent them out to preach (Luke 10:1, 17). There is not a lot of reference to the seventy in the Gospels; they were a type of an outer circle of relationship. There is a much stronger level of commitment in this group; they love the Lord, and they love worship, prayer and studying the Word.

The Twelve – Later on, Jesus chose the twelve who would be with Him for about three years. The twelve would travel with Him and be trained by Him (Matthew 10:1-4). Most of these men would become the pillars of the New Testament church. They were the men who made their way to the Upper Room, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and set out to change the world by preaching the Gospel to everybody.

The Three – From among the twelve there emerged three who became especially close to Jesus: Peter, James and John. They were strong and very human men who wanted to be close to Jesus. The intimacy of the three was a result of their response to His love and training. They were with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37), on the Mount of Olives (Mark 13:3) and on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1).

The One – And then there was John. In his own writing he says he was “the disciple that Jesus loved” (John 21:7). John seemingly had a very close relationship with Jesus, closer than the others. Jesus loved all the disciples and He did not show favoritism but there was a special bond and love between Him and John. If Jesus loved John more, it was because John loved Jesus more. Mutual love and confidence are the keys to intimacy.

At each level all these people were as close to Jesus as they chose to be. Only those who count such intimacy a prize worth striving for are likely to attain it. If other attractions and other interests are more desirable, intimacy with the Lord is out of reach.

How close do you want to be?

A PLACE CALLED HOME

An old gospel song entitled “This World is Not My Home” begins:

“This world is not my home, I’m just passing through;

  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

  The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,

  And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

There is a longing and wistfulness found in these words. It’s the awareness of a believer who recognizes that his permanent home is not in this life but in eternity. Paul spoke of the drawing power of his eternal home when he said,

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account” (Philippians 1:23-24, ESV). 

Paul was expressing his desire to go to heaven and be free from the drudgery and pain of this world but knew he needed to suppress those feelings because there was still work for him to finish here.

Most Christians believe in heaven but not as many actually believe in hell. This is illogical because if you believe in one, you have to believe that there is an opposite. If you believe there is a place of reward then you have to believe that there is also a place of punishment or, at best, a place of non-reward. In what is perhaps an even more disastrous position, many believers today pay no attention to the importance of eternity in our future. When we have no strong feelings or no opinion at all about eternity, we are saying that our conduct here in this life has little or no consequence.

I believe in a literal hell and a literal heaven. I cannot recall the last time I have actually heard a sermon on either, but I still believe in both. These subjects are just not in vogue in today’s church. I think there are several reasons (notice I did not say good reasons) why the church today does not teach on or is ambivalent about eternity, about heaven and hell.

•     Much of the current ambivalence on eternity and the consequences of how we live is because much of the church does not want to be told how to live; the subject of holiness and living a pleasing life toward God is not high on the popularity list. The subject of punishment and hell was probably overdone in the past but it is still a vital truth that needs to be properly established in our thinking as believers.

•     The church of today does not believe there are serious consequences to inappropriate behavior for the believer or the unbeliever. When was the last time you heard a really intelligent sermon on the consequences of sin? I don’t remember the last one. We hear powerful teaching on, “Whatsoever a man sows that also shall he reap” applied to giving, business, etc. but the same principle applies to bad behavior!

•     We live in the most materialistic generation of all time. On top of that, we live in one of the most materialistic countries of the world. To make it even more depressing, I live in a part of Texas where materialism has been refined to a fine art form. Californians and New Yorkers really don’t have a lot on Texans (especially Dallas and Collin County) when it comes to unabashedly embracing materialism. And that’s as true of the church community as it is the general population.

Materialism is addictively seductive and when it runs rampant in the church, it causes people to lose their eternal perspective. The church in North America has become self-centered and materially addicted. If you don’t think I’m being fair, just watch what is called “Christian television.” Many of the programs are about how God wants you to be wealthy and successful — and it will begin if you send them an offering and then they tell you what the “anointed amount” is!

As the song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through; my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” (Too often that isn’t true in the Texas church — in Texas our treasure is laid up in our cars, our houses, our clothes and our jewelry.)

Let me try to put all this into some semblance of perspective. I am grateful that I live in America; I am grateful that I live in Texas. I am grateful for all of God’s blessings on my life and on my family. But it is my responsibility to maintain a right perspective and to continually recognize that this world is not my home. Jesus said:

“In My Father's house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3, Amplified Bible).

Jesus was talking about our eternal dwelling, the “place called home”! And like a good host, He has gone on ahead to prepare for His guests.