Aspire to Live Quietly
December 29, 2010
The New Year holiday is traditionally a time to reflect on the previous year, and look forward to the next, perhaps making plans and even resolutions for the months ahead. As you look forward to 2011 I want to encourage you to make 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 a part of your plans for the new year:
For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing…. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
Here, Paul’s vision of the Christian life is profoundly simple, profoundly doable, and for many, profoundly disappointing.
Why disappointing? Well, simply put, Paul offers no grand vision to the Thessalonians on how to change the world. Instead, he offers them a simple, quiet, steady, faithful, loving, and humble vision of how they ought to live. While so many Christian messages we hear today call us to aspire to world-changing greatness, Paul calls us “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind our own affairs.”
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for seeing this world transformed for the glory of God. But perhaps that transformation comes, not with a grand vision of how to transform our community, but with a simple vision of how we ourselves might be transformed by God.
Here is how one author puts it:
Paul commends a life that is the very opposite of activist churchianity. Instead, he advocates the way of Christian vocation-Walk humbly and quietly with God. Don’t think it’s your job to change the world. Quit sticking your nose in everybody else’s business. Do your work and do it well. Let Christ’s love for others grow naturally out of that soil. Earn the respect of your neighbors over time as you live your life in Christ. Slow down. Get small. Run quiet. Go deep. Grow up. Keep on keeping on. Stand on your own two feet. Become a mature human being (from Chaplain Mike at internetmonk.com, ht: Gene Veith).
Disappointing? Yes, if your goal is to change the world. But for the rest of us, striving simply to do our job well, and to grow in love towards others, and to live quiet, humble lives for God’s glory and the good of our neighbors, Paul gives us something worth aspiring to in 2011.
The Holy Spirit as a GPS?
December 20, 2010
Yesterday I quoted from J. I. Packer’s article, The Ministry of the Spirit in Discerning the Will of God in my sermon. The article is well worth the read. Packer’s article concludes with these words:
It needs to be said that the ultimate purpose of God for every Christian is character-transformation and growth into the full image of Jesus Christ; and therefore that the Holy Spirit’s work of imparting wisdom for the discerning of God’s will, case by case, is part of that larger enterprise for which our sanctification is the usual name. What God wants for us is not simply a flow of correct discernments in the choices we make, but that we become discerning persons in ourselves, as Christ was a discerning person before us.
In other words, God wants to make us wise Christians, able to discern God’s will, not from inner nudges or promptings, but from the wisdom that God imparts through his Spirit and Word.
I love the GPS in my car. It tells me exactly where to turn, exactly what roads to travel, and exactly when I will arrive. But, my GPS also makes me ignorant. Sometimes when I use my GPS someone will ask what route I traveled, and I will honestly have no idea. By simply following directions (turn right here… turn left there…) I become oblivious to the actual route, the actual roads, the actual way I travel.
The Holy Spirit is not a GPS for Christians (turn right here… take that job… marry that girl…), and to think of it in that way makes for ignorant Christians who are interested in guidance, but who have little use for wisdom. Instead, God has given us his Spirit that we might be sanctified and wise And, if Packer is right, that God intends for us to be discerning people as Christ himself was discerning, then we would do well to remember the Spirit’s role in Christ’s own life, “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and might; the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:2).
So, instead of praying for signs, senses, urgings, promptings, open doors, and vague guidance, we should instead pray for “wisdom and understanding… counsel and might… knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Just Do Something
December 10, 2010
Often times our approach to discerning God’s will is all wrong. Instead of relying on the revealed will of God in his word (1 Thess. 4:3, for example), we rely on nudges, urgings, impressions, signs, fleeces, dreams, etc. It all sounds very spiritual, but at the end of the day these kinds of pursuits are unbiblical, at best.
Kevin DeYoung has an extremely helpful discussion on “finding God’s will” in his book, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will.
Here are a couple of quotes:
Expecting God to reveal some hidden will of direction is an invitation to disappointment and indecision. Trusting in God’s will of decree is good. Following His will of desire is obedient. Waiting for God’s will of direction is a mess. It is bad for your life, harmful to your sanctification, and allows too many Christians to be passive tinkerers who strangely feel more spiritual the less they actually do (p. 26).
And…
The will of God isn’t a special direction here or a bit of secret knowledge there… God’s will for your life and my life is simpler, harder, and easier than that. Simpler, because there are no secrets we must discover. Harder, because denying ourselves, living for others, and obeying God is more difficult than taking a new job and moving to Fargo. Easier, because as Augustine said, God commands what He wills and grants what He commands. In other words, God gives His children the will to walk in His ways — not by revealing a series of next steps cloaked in shadows, but by giving us a heart to delight in His law. So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you’ll be walking in the will of God (pp. 121-122).
If you get a chance, read it. This is one book not to be missed. It is whimsical in all the right ways, valuable for sanctification, and exceedingly helpful for the practical challenges every-day Christianity brings. And, it challenges the modern evangelical paradigm for “finding God’s will” with potency and much needed biblical correctives.
The Reformed Forum
December 3, 2010
In the vast sea of Christian resources on the internet, Reformed Forum stands out as one of the best websites available for Reformed Christians. Their audio programs cover a great deal of ground. From the faith of Johnny Cash, to Christianity and politics, to the metaphysics of Aristotle, there’s something for everyone.
I subscribe to the Christ the Center podcast and listen regularly. If somehow you’ve missed their extremely helpful website and resources, be sure to take some time to see everything they offer.
A Musician and a Football Player
December 2, 2010
Just this week I’ve been listening to a simple song from one of my favorite musicians, Jason Harrod.
Here are the lyrics:
Day and night, in my silence,
My body was wasting away.
My soul dried up in the desert sun.
Your hand was heavy on me.Your hand was heavy.
Your hand was heavy.
Your hand was heavy on me.Then I shouted in the night
I’m dirty, I want to be clean.
Your love broke through like daylight.
When You showered Your mercy on me.Shower Your mercy.
Shower Your mercy.
Shower Your mercy on me.You’re my refuge and my strength
In the hour when gray storms come.
Let the wind and rain come down.
I’m safe in my Father’s arms.The sky shouts out Your glory
In blue and marigold.
And I will praise You all my days,
Lover of my soul.I will praise You,
I will praise You,
Lover of my soul.
Here’s the video:
Jason Harrod – Day and Night from Nathan Clendenin on Vimeo.
It is a simple song, very Psalm-like, expressing repentance, trust in God, and praise to God in spite of the hardships of life and the reality of our own sin. I’ve been listening to this song this week thinking, yes, this is a good reflection of what the Christian life ought to be.
Then, this morning I read this blog post about what Steve Johnson tweeted (to God, presumably) when he dropped a game-winning touchdown pass last week. He said:
I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…
So here we have two men, a musician and a football player, both facing “the hour when gray storms come,” and both responding to God in diametrically opposite ways. One repents and praises God (“I will praise you all of my days”), one boasts and curses God (“THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!!”).
Now, never mind the triviality of a dropped football pass. If there was ever a reason to curse God (and indeed there are none), this was not it.
The real issue for us is this, how will we respond in the midst of adversity, hardship, and affliction in this life… like the musician or the football player?
In Revelation 9, as God’s judgments descend upon the earth in the form of various horrific plagues, and many people die, we are told, “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands…” (v. 20). The lesson of Revelation 9 is quite significant. We must see every affliction in this life, from the dropping of a football, to even the loss of life, as an opportunity to repent, rest in Christ, and ultimately rejoice in God’s sovereign grace.
The good news of the gospel is not that we get what we deserve. The football player, wanting what he deserves (“I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!!!”), is tragically blind to the reality of his sin and the judgments of God necessitated by it. He understands self-righteousness. He understands tit-for-tat. But he does not understand the gospel.
Instead, the good news of the gospel is that we don’t get what we deserve! It is, “You were dead in trespasses and sins… but God made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:1-5).
So today may our prayers be gospel prayers, “Shower your mercy on me!”