When you ‘loose’ Christ

A quote from a recent debate I had…

…”However, I know for a fact you won’t recede your argument anytime soon. As someone who was in exactly the same position you are in 20 years ago, (your age, sir?) It’s very hard to let go of faith, especially when it’s reinforced by the family. In the end, we all have to decide for ourselves what is ‘real’ when it comes to faith. Personally, my faith in God went out the window on 911, and every excuse I’ve heard from religious types on the subject since that day has been woefully inadequate. 
Maybe you’ll get to the stage in your life when the phrase “God works in mysterious ways” just isn’t good enough anymore.”

The debate, which ironically didn’t start off as a debate, was about homosexuality. The original post on this message board was a youtube video of some family in the southern US that used the majority of it’s time executing ‘hate crimes’ in the name of God. I use the term hate crime loosely here, but for what it’s worth that’s what they were doing. Literally picketing anything imaginable with signs stating God’s hatred for those in a homosexual lifestyle, God’s hatred for America and where it’s going; and praising the death of soliders in Iraq because it’s a sign of God’s hand of justice on the US.

What got me personally involved in this debate was not the fact that I am 1 of 2 Christians on this message board, nor was it that these people were bashing Christianity, but it was because this family on the video were homeschoolers. That’s right folks, homeschoolers.

This family of many children (I forget the exact number) also home churched with a few other people. In fact it was the grandfather of this family that started this church and the hate movement he started. So we’re even seeing the playing out of the multi-generational principle. I merely wished to show the rest of the members on the board that I am a Christian, unashamedly so, but I have no tolerance for attitudes like that. Naturally this went head long into the infamous “so why do you think homosexuality is wrong? isn’t it just love?” debate.

But the quote I placed up top really gripped me. You see the majority of the responses were either attempted one sentence debate smashers (which failed) or mindless profanity or the accusation of ignorance in Christians in general. This man had been a Christian once, is coming from a Christian heritage yet he has left without a doubt any trace of following God. In fact he’ll be the first to tell you he’s an Atheist.

In a sense, he lost Christ. Rather, he lost the Christ he assumed he was following. Circumstances and events took place that shattered his worldview and no one could give him an adequate answer besides, “God works in mysterious ways.” That phrase is a cop-out for non-believers cloaked as Christians to make other non-believers stay within Christianity.

There is nothing mysterious for God to tell us, “You’re slipping.” There is nothing we can’t comprehend behind a warning that we are as a whole removing God from our country and then wonder why He doesn’t protect us. We wonder why we can’t react unified or correctly when these bad things happen. Have we forgotten that is by a broken and contrite heart God will accept us?

I believe this man had ‘lost’ Christ because his Christ was not powerful enough to stop these things from happening, nor able to tell him why. He sought for an answer and he did not use 9/11 as an excuse to leave Christianity, it’s just that all he was left with was blind faith in a weak God that allows bad things to happen for no reason.

All of this I believe is summed up when Christ is talking with the 12 during the last supper, and He talks about Him leaving. Allow me write down John 14 (some verses omitted) for you and help create the scene:

“In My Father’s house there are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Philip said to Him, “Show us the Father, Lord.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

I can only imagine the sorrow, the eagerness and the suspense that Thomas and Philip had as they responded to Him. Here is their Master, their Lord, saying that He is going to go away and that’ they can’t come with Him. They ask Him where is He going, if they can’t find Him they can’t find the way, and Jesus responds by saying that He is the way! You follow Him you follow the way to God. They then go on to say show us the Father then, Lord. If you’re the way, show us God. Again Jesus tells them that He is God, He is in God and God is Him.

I can only imagine Jesus looking back into Philip’s eyes with an equal amount of eagerness by saying, “Philip have you not been with me all this time?! Haven’t I told you these years that if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.”

When we loose our way, when we loose sight of things that keep us on the road with God, when that circumstance occurs in which we cannot understand or explain away why, look to Him.

My friend on this message board sought answers, but did not seek Jesus. Jesus is the answer, He is the way, He is the life. No man comes onto the Father except through Him.

And greater things than this shall he do.

Miserere Mei, Deus

“It’s true.  We’re beggars.”

-Martin Luther, on his deathbed

 

One of the things I must remind myself constantly when pursuing these academic and scholarly driven studies of divinity and historical Christianity, I must never forget when I come across truth, that it is truth.  It is real, it effects me to my innermost being, and I must apply it.

 

It’s too easy to sit back and read Calvin’s Institutes and say, “Yep.”  It’s too easy to read the biography of Martin Luther and say, “Well I’m glad he made the right choice.”  Or perhaps even Scripture itself far too easy to understand and comprehend, but when applied I hardly know anything.

 

Even the most simplest of doctrines can break my heart and destroy any composure I have when I put myself in a godly perspective of things.  When the smallest of words and short phrases in the Bible seem to have little passion behind at first read, upon a second I realize a greater context and I am speechless at it’s truth.

 

I once gave an analogy that doctrine and theology is like an artificial heart – you put pieces together, they do different things and effect the artificial heart in different ways, but if you’ve gathered all the right pieces it will work.  But an artificial heart is only good if you place it in your chest to make you live!  Even a perfect and unblemished theology is worthless if it is not applied.  To me sanctification isn’t learning from my mistakes and trying to live a more godly life (which incidentally, is more like transcendentalism), sanctification is the living out of the realization of the greater context of what God is doing in me.

 

Paul Washer gives an excellent example of how un-effected we are by Scripture sometimes.  He was talking about the crucifixion of Jesus and said if you had been there, you would have gone mad.  He said that many people imagine this scene of the crucifixion of a man being pinned to a cross and him bleeding, looking sorrowful then dying.  This is not so.  Crucifixion is the most painful way to die, period.  It is long, it is painful, it is meant for the one purpose of dragging out every last inch of pain and suffering in a person before they die.  The word itself, excruciating, comes from the latin word excruciatos, meaning from the cross.  Our Lord did not die quietly looking mournful.  It can take days of the worst torture men can create before a person mercifully dies, all in which loved ones watch and can do precious little.  You can’t imagine adequately what you would have done if you had been there, it goes beyond comprehension.

 

Kinda blows apart your little calvary scene with Buddy Jesus looking kinda sad that He had to die, huh?  That’s coming to a greater and a truthful realization of what is.

 

“Have mercy upon me, O God.” from the Psalms.  What do you think of when you read this?  David trying to ask forgiveness for some sin he ‘fell’ into?  Some emphatic writings of a poet?  Or maybe do you see your own sin, which you willfully committed, separating you from a right and holy God who is your only means of salvation?  You see David tries to express mans total depravity here but can only so far with human language.  Simply put, work on behalf of a hopeless sinner, for you are the infinitely holy God and I a worthless wretch.

 

But we are not the Disciples who had to mourn for 3 days before their hope was found anew, for our Lord is risen and He sits at the right hand of the Father, from where He shall judge the living and the dead.  Yes our faults and our transgressions are always before us, but our hope in the glory of God revealed by salvation is always closer and dearer to us than anything else.

 

But how do we do this?  Where from Scripture can I show where to do this?

 

Psalm 51

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness: according to your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

 

The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – These, O God, you will not despise.”

 

Once we realize what is true about world and about ourselves, realize we have no where else to go but before the throne of mercy, that we are utterly incapable of anything infinitely worthy, can we go before a righteous God who will accept us.

 

Blessed are those…

“The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit, a broken heart and a contrite heart – these things, O Lord, you will not despise.”

Psalm 51:17

 

I would like to save this first space to thank those who again read these notes and comment on them, it is a blessing to know that people who know the heart of God also seek mine and take time to see what is in mine. It is an honor and a privilege to do so.

I also would like to say that there have been a few requests for me to write my own testimony, but as proven by the transcribed testimony of Paul Washer, this meager text hardly does it justice. However I can urge you to watch on youtube.com the two messages of brother Paul’s that I wrote, the names are ‘We’re Losing It’ and ‘Isn’t It Enough? (Paul Washer’s Secret)’ If God so desires, I would be happy to give you my testimony in person.

But now on to the main reason for this note. Again God is laying upon my heart more truth that just burns within me. I can’t hold it back from myself nor can I hold it back from sharing it with others. You see that’s what truth does when you’re really seeking God…it overtakes you and burns like a forrest fire without cease.

As you might have guessed it all started when I was listening to a sermon by brother Paul. Often does his expounding on holy Scripture lead me to truth, this time is no different. His main message was on The True Gospel, a 6 part series on the basics of the Gospel (can you imagine that? 9 hours just to cover what he considers the basics?). He quoted the first verse of the Beatitudes, which I will also quote momentarily.

What caught my attention was the larger context of which Jesus was speaking. You see when we read the Bible, the enemy is working at his absolute best to make sure you misunderstand what you are reading. He takes great strides in making sure our inherently evil hearts miss the very defining point of what Jesus says. The majority of the time it’s the application of His words to our own hearts. Yes we may understand the meaning, we can even understand the application to those whom He was preaching physically to. Yet we so often forget that these words were written down for us to read, understand and apply for all time.

Let me quote the verses of the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is the reward in Heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

If you’re like me you’ve memorized that verse in the past and remembered it to some degree. Probably from Awana or some bible study you’ve done. If you’re like me you read that too fast and missed the application. You see your deceitfully wicked heart is at play already. Amazing isn’t it? If those words lacked conviction, truth or just didn’t jump off the screen and smack you upside the head your heart is lying to you. If your eyes glazed over and you started reading in the iambic pentameter you are being mislead.

Like much of what Jesus said in His short ministry on earth, these words are for both the believer and the unbeliever. Everyone at all times can come to these verses and find application. But where? Where have I been mislead and where does this application take place?

One of the most common lies our hearts will tell us when reading the Bible is, “I’ve done that.” or something along the lines of, “That’s not me.”

If you read those verses and agreed on the reward because you’re already a Christian but didn’t see yourself in the first part, you’ve been deceived. But how Andrew can this be? I know you’re trying to tell me something important but I’m not getting it. This doesn’t directly apply to me.

But it does. Let me explain a little further.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

There are two aspects to this verse. It implies only one thing. If you are poor in spirit (aspect one), then a citizenship in the kingdom of Heaven (aspect two) is granted to you (implication). That’s it. Period. These are the blessings to those who in aspect one realize they are needing, and if they seek Him the blessing (aspect two) is given them. Now place in context what you said to yourself earlier. ‘I’m not poor in spirit but I am going to Heaven.’ It just doesn’t fit. The poor in spirit will enter Heaven. Still not convinced? Show me an example in the New Testament where someone great in spirit followed Christ, and to them was granted salvation.

Another thing you have to look our for is legalism where it doesn’t belong, which is another trick of the enemy to get you confused and to take you off the mark.

Am I saying that I have to be poor in spirit 24/7 and then I can enter Heaven? I thought salvation was by faith and not works? If I have to be sad and mournful all the live long day this doesn’t match up with other Scripture, where is there joy of my salvation?

No. This is not saying that you have to be perpetually poor in spirit. It’s not even saying that any reaction you have needs to start with being poor in spirit. The emphasis on this is totally flipped.

Salvation is by faith and faith alone, not by works. Nothing you can do on the arm of your own strength is worthy to be presented to God. Placing yourself in a place to be poor in spirit would be doing the same thing, trying to achieve favor of God by your works. What the verse is saying that we need to recognize that we are already poor in spirit because of our actions, our inherently evil nature that separates us from God. All we can do is come to Him as we are; broken, contrite and poor in spirit. Once we realize that there is absolutely nothing that we can do that change our position in our separation from God there is no where else to go or nothing else to do but be broken.

That’s where God does what He does for eternity – love us unconditionally. Like a Father who never tires of seeing us, who will always run into a run to scoop us up in His arms as dirty as we are, He will take us as we are. Like a loving Husband to an unfaithful wife, He will say “I will always take you back.” But we can’t be swept away by His love and grace until we recognize where we are.

Poor in spirit, mournful and meek, hungry and thirsty, persecuted.