Lovers of Self?

Numerous websites offer “Tips for How to Love Yourself”. A google search for “love yourself” produces more than a million hits. One site—written by a psychotherapist—gives such an extensive list of ways to “boost your self-love” that if you followed all the directions, you would be constantly talking to yourself. Writing yourself notes. Indulging your every whim and desire.

Another site includes a quote from Iyanla Vanzant: “I am the one I have been looking for,” she said. One lady suggests putting this on your bathroom mirror so you can say it to yourself every day: “I look in the mirror and what do I see? a beautiful lady staring back at me. Oh wow! I thought, who could that be? (then smile and say), oh! It’s only me.” She also includes this warning: “Don’t become too narcissistic or people will shun you.” One has to wonder: how narcissistic is “too narcissistic”?

So, what do you think? Is all this good and healthy? Are we supposed to “love ourselves”? To listen to the great spiritual leaders of our time (i.e., psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists) one would think so. In fact, many Christian psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists (who shall remain nameless) agree and tell us we should indeed “love ourselves”. To listen to them, you’d think Jesus Himself commanded it. Remember the time Jesus was asked, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” (Mark 12:28)? Of course you do. Do you remember that He answered with a three-fold answer: “Love God, love your neighbor and love yourself”? Of course you don’t. He never said that.

When Jesus was asked, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” He gave a two-part answer: “Love God and love your neighbor.” Many teachers—some I respect very much—have tried to find three commandments in Jesus’ words. But “love yourself” just isn’t there. Jesus mentions only two commands: “The foremost…and the second.” The word “second” certainly limits the list Jesus gave us.

Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to love ourselves. But the Bible is not silent on the subject. Self-love is addressed in two ways in Scripture:

Self-love is assumed
This passage is a good example—Jesus assumes you love yourself. He told you to love your neighbor “as ourself.” As much as you love yourself. Another example where Scripture assumes we already love ourselves is Ephesians 5:28-30:

“So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.”

Notice that Paul—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—did not write “…love their own wives as their own bodies, and if you don’t love yourselves, husbands, get busy and love yourselves!” Notice that Paul—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—did write, “…no one ever hated his own flesh…” Scripture assumes we love ourselves—and it is true. Even those who are self-destructive love themselves. They are willing to harm themselves to get someone to notice them. Some are even ready to take the drastic step of suicide in order to put themselves out of their own misery. What looks like self-hate—in reality—is self-love.

Self-love is sinful
The second thing the Bible teaches about self-love is that it is sinful. A negative thing. Usually, when you find “self” in front of another word in the Scriptures it is a bad thing. There are, of course, some exceptions. When the self is controlled and limited in some way, it is good. Self-control. Self-restraint.

But usually, self + something = sinful. Things like self-willed, self-exaltation and self-indulgence are a few examples that come to mind.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 is an excellent example: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self…” Is this a good thing as many would have us believe? No. “Lovers of self” is the first item in a list that will characterize people who live in “the last days.” The rest of the list tells the complete story:

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”

Self-love here is clearly sinful. It is “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power”. Self-love is a counterfeit virtue. “Lovers of self” is in contrast to “lovers of God”. That’s the real love we should be pursuing. And that’s the real issue—the real battle. Sinful mankind is constantly faced with the temptation to dethrone God and exalt self. If you love self, you are not loving God. If you love God—really love God—you cannot love self. “Avoid such men (and women) as these.” I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that first and foremost, we must avoid being such men and women.

What is a proper view of self?
Please don’t misunderstand. The Scriptures do not teach self-hate either. Self-hate is satanic. It is just as much a lie as self-love. Satan is a thief and a liar. He wants us to be “self-destructive.” Self-hate is not Biblical either.

The Scriptures teach us to have a proper self-worth. Not self-love. Not self-hate. Self-worth is an understanding that God has created us in His own image and He loves us. Paul wrote in Romans 12:3, “…I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment…” We should not think too highly of ourselves. Nor should we think too lowly of ourselves. We should think rightly about ourselves. Soberly. With sound judgment.

On the one hand, we have been created in the image of God and God loved us so much that He sent His only Son—the Second Person of the Trinity—to pay a high cost to reconcile us with God. Does that make you feel pretty special? It should. But don’t forget the other hand.

On the other hand, we are sinful and rebellious. We were created in the image of God, but we are not God. There is nothing in us that makes us worthy of God’s affection. Our worth is not found in ourselves, but in the fact that God created us and loves us.

Dr. Jay Adams—pastor, professor, counselor and author—got it right when he wrote, “Christ declared: ‘He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it’ (Matthew 10:39), and ‘For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it’ (Matthew 16:25). Clearly the one who seeks his identity in himself or in his relationship to other men will never find that which he seeks. It may be found only by the abandonment of one’s own desires and a willingness to follow Christ. Identity is found in Him; in letting loose of all else for His sake. One finds a satisfying identity nowhere else. Thus, love of self is not a biblically legitimate end. One is satisfied with himself only when he is in the proper relationship with Christ, having a clear conscience before God and men” (The Christian Counselor’s Manual: The Practice of Nouthetic Counseling; Zondervan: 1973; p.147).

One night when David was looking up at the stars, he whispered, “What is man that you take thought of him?” (Psalm 8:4). It didn’t make sense to David that God even thinks about us. It really doesn’t make sense that God loves sinful, rebellious, lowly mankind. But this is one of the great truths God Himself has revealed to us in His book. Our response should be the same one David had: Praise! “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1,9).

Our Roots

Is Christianity more like golf or football?

Someone might say, “Golf because Christianity is like walking through life and it helps you deal with one problem after another until finally you arrive at that great club house in the sky.” But I think Christianity is more like football (don’t overanalyze my metaphor too much here). I think Christianity is like football because success—as a football team—requires great teamwork. Golf is an individual’s sport. It’s just you against the world. A golfer can be successful without depending on anyone else. But no football player can have success by himself. For a football player to be successful, he has to be part of a dedicated team of guys who know what success is and are willing to do their job to help get the team across the goal line.

For a Christian to be “successful” (for lack of a better word), he or she has to be part of a dedicated fellowship of believers. Those who know what success is and are willing to do their job to help get the church across the goal line. Success for a church is maturity. A healthy church is a church that is growing in maturity. Not necessarily growing in numbers, but growing up. This is why most of the New Testament books were written to churches—calling the church to maturity in Christ.

But what does maturity look like? How do we get there? How do we stay there? How do we help others get there? Let me start with a little history. Our history.

If you’re a member of Community Bible Church, you’re part of what is often referred to as the “modern day Bible Church movement”. Early in the 20th century, most Christians were part of a mainline denomination. But a great division was taking place at that time between the liberals and the fundamentalists. If I may say it this simply, the liberals were those who didn’t believe the Bible. The fundamentalists were those who did. The fundamentalists believed in a literal or plain interpretation of the Bible. They believed every word of it was true and valuable. The liberals wanted to throw out the parts they didn’t like. During that time Bible conferences and Bible institutes—such as BIOLA (Bible Institute of Los Angeles) sprang up as fundamentalists began leaving the mainline denominations. This is probably an oversimplification of things, but this is basically where Bible churches were born. Of course, all Biblical churches were born at Pentecost in the first century. But I’m referring to the modern Bible Church movement. The primary motivation behind this movement was proclamation—a focus on declaring the Biblical message.

Our church—Community Bible Church—in a very real way was born out of that movement. But there’s more to the story. Something significant happened at Dallas Theological Seminary in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Gene Getz was a professor at Dallas Seminary at that time and describes what happened in the introduction of his book, Building Up One Another:

“Several years ago, I made a wonderful discovery. It happened when I was a full-time professor interacting with my students at Dallas Theological Seminary about God’s plan for the church. Their questions were penetrating and challenging! What is a healthy church? What does God expect from all believers? What makes a church a dynamic witness in the world?

All of these questions motivated me to investigate more deeply what is recorded in the letters written to the various New Testament churches. As I pursued this journey through the New Testament epistles, one major concept kept jumping off the pages of Scripture. Again and again I noticed exhortations regarding what believers are to do for one another. Paul, particularly, used the Greek word allelon nearly forty times to instruct Christians regarding their mutual responsibilities to their fellow believers…

More than I realized, my initial discovery of these ‘one another’ exhortations was destined to impact my life dramatically for years to come—and the lives of many others. First, it became a key in unlocking the process Paul described in his Letter to the Ephesians. This great first-century church planter made it crystal clear that the ‘body of Christ’ will never become a growing and dynamic community reflecting Christ’s love unless ‘each part does its work.’ God’s plan is that ‘the whole body’ is to be ‘joined and held together by every supporting ligament’ (Ephesians 4:16). Total body function is absolutely essential if a local church is to become all God intended it to be!

During my initial interaction with my students at the seminary, several of them challenged me to start a church and to apply these ‘one another’ injunctions at the grassroots level. At first, I was hesitant. After all, I had been a professor for nearly twenty years. But, I took this challenge seriously and helped several families start the first Fellowship Bible Church in Dallas. I served as pastor. Attendance exploded and I knew rather quickly I’d have to make a vocational decision. After a lot of reflection and prayer, I decided to give up my full-time professorship and become a full-time church planting pastor.

Since starting the first Fellowship Bible Church in 1972, it has multiplied into over a dozen churches in the Dallas metroplex and several hundred throughout the United States and even into foreign countries—such as Fellowship Bible Church in Warsaw, Poland…

During these years of church planting experience, I’ve discovered that no emphasis is more important than to teach Christians what the Bible says about these ‘one another’ injunctions.” (Building Up One Another by Gene Getz, Victor Books: 2002; pgs.7-9)

Dr. Getz simply detected a shortcoming of the Bible Church movement. Those churches had been established to proclaim the Biblical message at a time when that was desperately needed. But the shortcoming for most of these Bible churches was a lack of emphasis on fellowship—true, Biblical “body life.”

At the same time out in California, Ray Stedman, another Dallas Seminary graduate and pastor of Peninsula Bible Church, was exploring a similar emphasis in that congregation. He published a book in the early 1970’s called Body Life. God used both these men and their books to influence many pastors. Many churches were planted as a result—including Community Bible Church of Lawrence, Kansas.

This is your history—and mine. I think this history is very important because my hope and prayer for CBC is that we would hang onto our roots. That we would strike that healthy balance by boldly and accurately declaring the Biblical message while we diligently pursue Biblical fellowship. That’s a healthy church. Those are our roots.

Are we doing pretty well? Yes, we are. Can we do better? Yes we can. So, let me remind you that you cannot obey the one-another commands alone—therefore, you cannot obey much of the New Testament if you’re not plugged in to a local body of believers. You can win at golf all by yourself. But you can’t win a football game by yourself. And you cannot “win” at Christianity by yourself. There’s no such thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. Christianity cannot be lived out in isolation.

Do you know what else? I don’t want to try. The kind of Christianity where we all see each other only on Sundays. The kind of Christianity where we say little more than, “Nice day, isn’t it? Not as hot as it was last week.” The kind of Christianity where we sing a half-dozen songs and sit and listen to a sermon together then part ways ’til next Sunday—is not the kind of Christianity I’m looking for. I don’t know about you, but I want a family. I want to be part of a healthy body that is functioning as it should. I want true fellowship. Let’s not settle for anything less.

The Right Question

One of my favorite books is The Question Book by Bobb Biehl. It’s full of thousands of questions. Questions you should ask before you buy a car. Before you start a business. Before you enter the military or choose a college or hire an attorney or get married. Biehl wrote in the introduction, “No problem in the world has ever been solved without a question.” That’s great stuff! He’s so right.

Despite his great wisdom, in almost 400 pages full of questions, Biehl didn’t come up with one of the greatest questions every humanoid should ask! In fact, my guess is that most people—even most Christians—fail to ask it. This is why we often spend so much time chasing after all the wrong things in life.

In the time between Moses and Jesus—when God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai to the time of Jesus—Jewish scholars had identified 613 specific commandments in Scripture (the Old Testament). There were 365 negative commands—“Thou shalt nots”—and the rest were positive—“Thou shalts”. They debated among themselves about what commandments were most important.

The thing that always scares me when I read about the Pharisees and Sadducees and all those Jewish leaders is that in many ways, they looked like you and me.

• Like us, they knew the Bible. They studied the Bible. The Bible was one of their core values.
• Like us, they were constantly participating in some sort of religious activity.
• Like us, they prayed, they tried to live by the rules and they gave offerings to God.

In fact, they were probably more faithful in all these things: They studied their Bibles far more diligently than I do. They participated in religious activity on a daily basis. They prayed multiple times per day and diligently lived by the letter of the law. Their giving would probably put most of us to shame.

What scares me is that Jesus wasn’t impressed. He said, “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men’” (Matthew 15:8,9). What was missing? What was wrong? Why was their “worship…in vain”? At least part of the answer is: they were asking the wrong questions! Do you realize that all our church activity could be a big waste of time? Do you understand that our Bible studies, our prayers, our giving, our worship—could be “in vain” (i.e., useless)? All of our religious activity has the potential of being far from pleasing to God. It can look great to us, but be a foul stench in the nostrils of God if we don’t ask the right questions.

Mark 12 contains the right question. In fact, Mark 12:28 tells us the last question anyone dared to ask Jesus. His answer silenced Jesus’ critics for good. But I want you to see that question: “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

There it is: “What commandment is the foremost of all?” It gave Jesus the opportunity to teach what God really wants. That’s the answer we all need most of all—God is our Creator and Father and Judge and we will screw up our lives if we don’t know what He wants. We will waste our 72 years on the planet if we don’t know the answer to that question.

One of the things that amazes me about this is who asked the question—a scribe! In Jesus’ day, the scribes were the big shots. These were the theologians. The scribes were men of the text. They studied it. They copied it. They memorized it. They agonized long and hard over its meaning. These men were the interpreters. They told everyone else what the text meant. The problem is this: Pride. When everyone’s looking to one man or one group of people—the Masters of Theology—to tell them what God has said, there’s danger. Danger for them and danger for those who are looking to them. We’ve got to be careful to study the Scriptures for ourselves. Don’t get me wrong: It’s good to listen to those who have devoted their lives to studying the Scriptures. It’s good to read their books and consider what they have to say. I think it’s good for you to listen to what I have to say—if I didn’t think so, I’d be doing something else. But you should never get lazy—only listening to my sermons or only listening to your favorite radio teacher or only reading the best-selling books from the Christian bookstore—without studying the Scriptures. Without looking to see if what is said from the pulpit or on the radio or on the printed page is true.

Remember what Luke told us about the Bereans in Acts 17:11? “Now these (Christians in Berea) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” “These things” were the things being taught by the Apostle Paul! That’s the way it ought to be.

But, according to Matthew 22 this scribe was prideful. Everyone looked to him for the answers. He was the great interpreter of the text—the Bible Answer Man. He was testing Jesus. Jesus had answered all the other simpletons before him, but Jesus hadn’t dealt with him yet. So he steps out of the crowd with his nose in the air and a smug little grin. But despite his pride, this scribe’s question is great! You’ve got to hand it to him—he asked a great question. Think about it: You’ve got 613 commandments in the Old Testament. That’s too much to keep track of. Boil it down for me. What’s the heart and soul of all this? What does God most want from me?

That’s not only a great question—it’s one of the greatest. It’s the question every man, woman and child needs to ask. Of course, Jesus answered the question in the next few verses, but my question for you right now is: Are you asking the right question? Are you asking what God most wants or are you asking how you can get what you want? Are you asking how you can get rich? How you can get your dream home or dream car? How you can get your dream girl or dream guy? How you can get…? Are you more concerned with what you want or with what God wants? If you’re not asking the right questions, you’re going to mess things up. It’s like a runner who doesn’t ask “Where’s the finish line?” Like the dentist who doesn’t ask, “Which tooth hurts?” The archer who doesn’t ask, “Which target?”

The upside is this: If you ask the right question, you have a much better chance of getting the right answer. You cross the finish line. You pull the right tooth. You hit the target. Ask the right question.

What is Your Purpose?

What is your purpose as a human on planet earth in the 21st century? Many of the writers and philosophers in our postmodern world describe our purpose in life as (these are actual quotes) “to make a positive impact on the world,” “to communicate with other living beings” or simply “to live it”. One valedictorian at a high school in Colorado got real honest: “I’m sorry,” he said, “but I do not know the answer to the meaning of life.”

If you’re looking to our culture for your purpose in life, you might think your purpose is to do whatever is necessary to make yourself happy. To be true to yourself. To be the next American Idol. But, if the Bible is really “God’s Word” on the subject, then our culture has it wrong. God’s own glory is what is most important to God, so our purpose—both as individuals and as a church—flows naturally out of that. Our primary purpose is to glorify God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 commands us: “…Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Ephesians 3:21 declares: “…To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

In fact, everything God created was created for the purpose of bringing glory to Him! Look at Psalm 19:1—“The heavens (i.e., the universe) are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Colossians 1:16 tells us, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” “All things” (That’s you! That’s our church! That’s continents. Spotted owls. Fridays. Gold.) were “created through Him and for Him” (not only by Him, but also “for Him”—for His pleasure. His glory!).

The next logical question then, is: How do we do that? How do we accomplish our primary purpose—both as individuals and as a church? At the risk of oversimplifying things, let me answer with two broad statements:

1. Never try to steal His glory.
This—as I understand it—is what Lucifer tried to do. Isaiah 14:13-14 is probably a transcript of what Lucifer said when he tried to steal God’s glory: “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Bad idea. He was cast out of heaven for it. He will be punished forever for it. Write it down somewhere: Never try to steal God’s glory.

2. Always try to give Him glory.
Remember 1 Corinthians 10:31? “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That’s pretty broad, but the point is very significant: “Whatever you do” with your time on earth is an opportunity to glorify God.

• If you’re a businessman, you can do business with integrity and point others to Christ.
• If you’re a teacher, you can love the unlovable student and tell them of the love of Christ.
• If you’re a father or mother, you can reflect the love and discipline and grace of your heavenly Father to your children.
• If you’re a student, you can do your work as though you were doing it for Jesus Himself—this will glorify Him.
• If you’re a rock star. Trash collector. Lawyer. Cop. Farmer. Brother. Sister. Friend. Neighbor. IRS Agent (seriously!). Anything you do is an opportunity to glorify God!

We glorify God when we seek Him and imitate Him and love Him and obey Him. We glorify God when we invite people to trust Christ and grow up in Him.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16? “You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Our good works glorify God.

Peter communicated this same idea in 1 Peter 2:12: “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In 1 Peter 2:5, he compared us to stones in a temple being built up for God’s glory: “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter also told us that as we use our gifts and serve one another and build up the body, God is glorified. “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:8).

Is all this new to you? Are you wondering why you’ve never heard this before? Never noticed it before? Are you now worried that you’ve wasted a lot of time? That’s history. That’s yesterday. What really matters is today and tomorrow—what you do this afternoon and tomorrow and this week and next month for the glory of God. What matters is whether or not you fulfill your purpose—to glorify God in your life. In your relationships. In your work. In your use of your time, talent and treasures. What matters is whether you seek to glorify God in your decisions. In your goals. In your plans. What matters is whether we as a church body glorify God together—from now on.

Let your prayer be the same as Jude: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24, 25)

What is Most Important to God?

What is most important to God? That’s an important question, isn’t it? Think about it. Since God is our Creator—The Intelligent Designer who has an intelligent design for our lives—and since He is our Lord and Master and since He is our Judge to whom we are ultimately accountable for how we live our lives, we need to know what is most important to Him. Then, everything else falls into place. We simply need to make sure that what is most important to God is most important to us. Practical Theology 101.

So, what is most important to God? The answer may surprise you. His own glory is what is most important to God!

Read the first three of the 10 Commandments, Exodus 20:1-7:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Do you see it? No other gods—these commands are given to direct us to Him, to focus on Him and give God—and God alone—glory. God will not share His glory with anyone or anything else.

Notice also, He is a “jealous God”! That’s hard for us to get because we think of jealousy as a bad thing. But think of it this way: If a man catches his wife in an affair with another man, is he wrong to be jealous? Absolutely not! His is a righteous jealousy—she vowed to love and know no other man but her husband. He not only should be jealous, but he must be jealous. A million times more, God is righteously jealous for His glory.

The third command is not to take the Lord’s name in vain. To treat it as common or to use it as a vulgarity. This, too, is about His glory. His name is wrapped up in who He is and when we misuse His name, we dishonor Him. Read what God said in Isaiah 48:9-11:

“For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

Go to the New Testament. The Transfiguration. In Matthew 17, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain and there was “transfigured”. In other words, Jesus let the three disciples see Him in His glory. Moses and Elijah appeared as well—the greatest law-giver and the greatest prophet. Peter was so overwhelmed that he blurted out that he would build three tabernacles as a way of honoring these three great men. But God, the Father, spoke from heaven and rebuked Peter. Read to verses 4 and 5:

“Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’”

Peter was putting Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. But God quickly corrected him and let him know that Jesus would not share His glory—even with great men like Moses and Elijah. This is God’s Son—God Himself—no ordinary man. He is the God-Man and He will not share His glory.

Acts 12:21-23 is an amazing illustration of God’s unwillingness to share His glory:

“On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

Perhaps you’re thinking all this make’s God seem arrogant and proud. Not at all! God is the only one worthy of glory. He is the only one worthy of worship. He’s the only one worthy to be praised. He would only be an egomanic or arrogant or proud if it wasn’t true! But it is true!

God is infinitely valuable and important.
Revelation 4:8 tells us the four living creatures “…day and night do not cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” Later, the 24 elders fall down before God and cry out, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power…” (v.11).

God is completely unique.
Over and over, the Scriptures tell us there is no one like God. After Moses and the Israelites watched God drown the entire Egyptian army, they sang in Exodus 15:11, “…Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?” Expected answer? No one! There’s no one as majestic and awesome as you! Guess what? God agrees! He later said—in Isaiah 40:25—“‘To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?’ says the Holy One.” Again, expected answer? No one!

God is the sustainer of all things.
Colossians 1:17 tells us: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Does not the One who holds all things together deserve glory?

We must understand that God is so wonderful; God is so good and great and enjoyable and loveable and awesome that it is an enormous privilege to have been created by Him and know Him and serve Him and give Him glory. Our salvation and our hope of eternal life depend on the fact that He is as wonderful as His Word tells us—wonderful enough to deserve glory.

So when we glorify God there is benefit for us. This is how He’s wired the universe—He’s the center. He’s the point. He’s the ultimate Source of joy and peace and contentment and joy and blessing. Remember the second commandment in Exodus 20?

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

When we begin to steal His glory and give His glory to someone or something else, we not only spit on His name, but we turn everything backwards. We are His creation. We don’t deserve glory. He does. Everything or anything else we might decide to glorify is also His creation and unworthy of glory. Nothing else and no one else deserves His glory. To glorify anything or anyone else is foolish and this foolishness will result in trouble, pain, judgment and a pointless, vain existence. Our lives will be empty and meaningless. Like chasing after the wind.

Let this sink deep down into your heart. Never forget that what is most important to God is His own glory.

Why I Am No Longer Roman Catholic

Dear Roman Catholic friends,

Whether or not my old Roman Catholic friends will ask me directly, I feel certain many of you wonder why I chose to leave the RCC. Even if some of you don’t care, I really want you to know. That is the purpose of this letter and I hope you’ll “hear” me out.

I also hope you’ll respond to this letter (whether we’re old friends or we’ve never met). Let me know what you’re thinking. Let me know how you agree or disagree. Heck—just let me know if you read it.

Let me begin by saying that I have many wonderful memories of my years as a Catholic. Midnight masses, Catholic schools, serving as an altar boy—there are many things I love and respect about the RCC. In fact, I recognize that I received a great foundation—theologically speaking—in the RCC. Many of the beliefs I hold today were formed in my years as a Catholic. I believe in the Triune God of the Bible. I believe Jesus Christ is God, was born of a virgin, was crucified, died and was buried. In fact, I still hold to the Apostle’s Creed.

One of the things I regret is having argued over secondary matters. I’ve spent way too much time over the years debating matters that just aren’t that important. At one time, I wanted everyone to share my opinions about everything. I now know that not only is this not going to happen, but it just isn’t necessary. Some things just aren’t worth fighting over.However, I do believe that there are primary issues in life which demand our passionate defense and declaration. Freedom, for example, is worth fighting and dying for. The protection of the unborn, defenseless and oppressed is another cause which should be passionately defended and debated in the legislatures and courtrooms of our country. The lives of people in grave danger are worthy of putting oneself in harm’s way. For example, the firemen who went into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, understood that it was worth the risk to their lives to try to save the thousands who were in the building. Again, there are primary issues in life which demand our passionate defense and declaration.

Let me use the firemen as an illustration. What if a fireman had encountered an individual who did not believe the building was burning and was likely to collapse? What should the fireman have done? Should he have said, “Well, everyone’s entitled to his opinion” and left the guy there without trying to convince him of the danger (for fear of offending him)? I suppose some people would say, “Well, serves him right if he doesn’t believe the fireman. He deserves whatever he gets.” On the other hand, some would say that the fireman had an obligation, a duty to convince the man of the great danger he was in or even club him over the head and carry him out for his own good.

Now, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this illustration. And I understand that it is likely that you disagree with my use of this illustration in regard to our differences. After all, I’m flattering myself by comparing myself to a fireman and you end up being the guy who doesn’t believe there’s a fire. I realize that’s not the most complimentary illustration in the world. But, please understand that this is how I understand the situation. This illustration is the best one I can come up with to demonstrate to you what I believe with all my heart. I am deeply concerned for your eternal destiny and can there be anything more worthy of my passionate declaration? Is there anything else more important? I admitted already that there have been times when all I wanted to do was win an argument. But this is not my motivation now. I can say that with complete confidence. My love for people is my motivation. My hope is that you will listen to (read) what I have to say simply because you know that I am concerned about your eternal destiny. I cannot club you over the head and carry you into heaven, but I can try to convince you of what I so strongly believe. Let me clarify: I don’t know whether or not you’re going to heaven—I don’t believe all Catholics are going to hell. But I do believe some are. I also believe some Lutherans, Presbyterians and Baptists are going to hell. In fact, lots of people who call themselves “Christians” are most likely in grave danger. This is what I’m trying to get at. More about that later.

I hope you will also listen because my opinion, my belief comes from my study of the Bible. I know there are many people who have studied the Bible and disagree with my viewpoint. But, I hope you will hear me out and consider what I have to say. If someone disagrees with me—if you disagree with me—that means one of us wrong. It can’t mean we’re both right or that it doesn’t matter. If I’m right, then what I have to say is a matter of life and death—eternal life and death. And, I believe that what I have to say to you is what the Bible—the ancient, time-tested, time-proven, Scriptures given to us by the men who walked with and listened to and touched Jesus Himself—have to say. My point is that I am not just giving you my opinion. I am giving you my opinion about what the Bible says. There’s a huge difference. If I give you nothing more than my opinions, then my opinion is no better than anyone else’s. But, if I am right about what the Bible says, then I am giving you God’s opinion—God’s truth. In fact, I would never want you to simply believe my opinion about what the Bible says without reading it for yourself and checking to see if what I say is true. I plead with you to open your Bible and see if what I say is true. Also, I’m going to quote a few verses in the remainder of this letter. All the verses I quote to you will be taken from the Bible I received at my confirmation, the New American Bible—the Roman Catholic translation of the Scriptures. I hope this will not make you feel I am using that gift from the RCC as a weapon against the RCC, but to demonstrate that what I believe has not been derived from a potentially biased, “Protestant” translation of Scripture. I hope you will listen to what I have to say because I am someone who loves you and is convinced (even though I may be wrong) that what I believe is an accurate interpretation of the Bible.

I want to tell you the heart of what I believe. I’m not talking about all the secondary things, but the spiritual life and death matter of how someone can know for sure they will go to heaven when they die. The Bible does tell us we can know for sure that we will go to heaven when we die. For many years I thought only an arrogant person could claim to know for sure. But, I have come to understand and believe that this is exactly what Jesus promised and the Bible teaches.

I want to be clear, so please be patient with me. The Bible basically tells us there is bad news and good news. I don’t want to be overly simplistic, but this seems like a good summary. The bad news is about us. The good news is about God. First of all, the Bible teaches repeatedly that we are sinners. I’m guessing you agree with that, but let me quote Romans 3:10-12 and 23 for example:

“It is as Scripture says: There is no just man, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one in search of God. All have taken the wrong course, all alike have become worthless; not one of them acts uprightly, no not one…All men have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.”

That phrase, “…deprived of the glory of God” literally means, “…fall short of the glory of God.” The idea is that even though some people are better than others, we all fall short of God’s holiness. To illustrate, if we stepped outside (assuming you are in the United States as you read this) and threw a rock as far as we could, I’m guessing I would probably throw the farthest—maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you could throw farther. But, if the goal was not to throw farther than you, but the goal was to throw a rock to Germany, I couldn’t even come close. You couldn’t either. We all fall short. We are all sinners—none of us are “just” compared to God’s righteous standards.

I think you’ll agree that this is bad news, but the bad news gets worse. Romans 6:23 says,

“The wages of sin is death…”

It’s a big deal that we are all sinners. It’s not just a matter of saying, “O well, I’m not perfect.” Sin is a big deal because the penalty is death. The word “wages” is pretty clear. When someone works a job they “earn” a wage. By being sinners, we “earn” death, which is more than just physical death, but spiritual death or eternal separation from God—hell. Again, I’m convinced that I’m not telling you anything—yet—that you disagree with.

Fortunately, the Bible gives us good news also. In fact, the word “gospel” literally means “good news.” And, for the sake of clarity, let me mention something else I know you believe: Christ died for our sins. This is the first part of the good news. Romans 5:8 says, “It is precisely in this that God proves his love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This, of course, speaks about God’s motivation and purpose. He loves us, so in order to “fix” (for lack of a better word) our hopeless, sinful situation, Christ died for us. Someone has compared this to the impossible notion of the transfer of cancer from one person to another. That Christ died in our place is like one person taking the cancer out of another person and putting it into his own body so that he might die in the place of the one who was doomed. This is very good news for us.

My final point is where I have disagreed with most Catholics in past discussions. The good news is not only that Christ died for our sins, but that we can be saved through faith. On the surface that might not sound like something you disagree with, but let me explain how I understand that. Ephesians 2:8,9 says,

“I repeat, it is owing to his (God’s, v. 7) favor that salvation is yours through faith. This is not your own doing, it is God’s gift; neither is it a reward for anything you have accomplished, so let no one pride himself in it.”

I believe these verses as well as many others teach that when we believe in Jesus we are saved. This sounds awfully simple, but I think that’s because the English word “believe” does not necessarily convey what the Bible means when it says “believe.” When we believe—in the Biblical sense—we must first have knowledge of who Christ is and accept that what He has done for us is the truth. That’s common sense. Obviously, we don’t believe in Christ at all if we don’t know who He is or we don’t accept that what we know about Him is true. But, when the Bible says “believe” it also includes the idea of “trust”—trusting Him alone to save you. A good illustration is a chair. Before you sit down in a chair, you might examine it to see if it looks like it is well-built, and you might even say that you “believe” the chair will hold you. But, if you really “believe”—in the Biblical sense—you will sit down and trust the chair to hold your full weight.

Most Catholics accept as true what the Bible teaches about who Jesus is and what He has done for us. The real question—that which gets to the heart of my differences with the RCC—is, “Who or what you are ‘trusting’ for your eternal destiny?” Most Catholics will respond that they are trusting Christ to save them. But here is the crux of the matter: Because official Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that other things are necessary in order to be saved, you need to ask whether you are trusting Christ alone to save you. What exactly do you believe? Do you believe official Roman Catholic doctrine—that you must do other things in order to be saved? By “other things” I mean anything other than believing—trusting—in Christ alone to get you to heaven when you die? Let me use another illustration. Take a look at these 3 circles:

If you were really honest with yourself and God, which circle would you say best describes what you believe it takes to get to heaven? Do you believe your own good works can get you to heaven? If you did, then you would be saying Christ’s death on the cross was completely unnecessary. I know you don’t believe that—never met a Catholic who did. So, would you say that you are trusting Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection in addition to your own keeping of the sacraments or any other deeds or actions to get you to heaven? Or, would you say that the third circle best describes you? Are you trusting in Christ alone for your eternal destiny?

The second circle is a description of how I understand official Roman Catholic doctrine. Before I quote a couple passages from the Cathechism of the Catholic Church, let me say that it contains many, many things I wholeheartedly agree with! It’s not that I disagree with everything the Roman Catholic Church teaches. But, I do disagree with what it teaches on some very important essentials of the faith because these teachings contradict the Bible. For example:

“The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.” (Cathechism, paragraph 1129, page 319).

“The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation … The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude…” (Catechism, paragraph 1257, page 352).

This is consistent with what was stated in the Council of Trent:

“If anyone says that the sacraments … and that without them … men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification … let him be anathema” (Roman Catholic Council of Trent, 1545-63; 7th Session, Canon 4, 52).

The “anyone” this statement was directed at was the Reformers of the Great Reformation. The biggest issue of the Reformation—led mostly by RC priests—was that “men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification.” Ironically, one of the few times “anathema” (accursed; “a curse be on him”) is used in the New Testament, it is used against the one who would add to the gospel:

“I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by (the) grace (of Christ) for a different gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed (anathema)! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed (anathema)! Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-10)

A few verses later, in chapter 3, verses 11-15, Paul clarifies the true gospel—the gospel he had preached to the Galatians:

“And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for ‘the one who is righteous by faith will live.’ But the law does not depend on faith; rather, ‘the one who does these things will live by them.’ Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,’ that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (italics mine)

I also did a search on a Roman Catholic website (http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/ccc.html) containing the entire text of the Catechism. I typed in three words: “necessary for salvation.” This is what came up:

980. “It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church: Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers ‘a laborious kind of baptism.’ This sacrament of Penance is NECESSARY FOR SALVATION for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is NECESSARY FOR SALVATION for those who have not yet been reborn. [Council Of Trent (1551): DS 1672; Cf. St. Gregory Of Nazianzus, Oratio 39,17: PG 36,356.]”

1129. “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. [Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1604.] ‘Sacramental grace’ is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature [Cf. 2Pet 1:4.] by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.”

1277. “Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord’s will, it is NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.”

1816. “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: ‘All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.’ [LG 42; cf. DH 14.] Service of and witness to the faith are NECESSARY FOR SALVATION: ‘So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.’ [Mt 10:32-33 .]”

2036. “The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. In recalling the prescriptions of the natural law, the Magisterium of the Church exercises an essential part of its prophetic office of proclaiming to men what they truly are and reminding them of what they should be before God. [Cf. DH 14.]”

I don’t quote these things to be combative, but to make the point that as I understand it, official Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that salvation requires a combination of Christ’s work and our own.

In fact, Karl Keating, a widely-read and well-known Roman Catholic apologist clearly states in his book, Catholicism and Fundamentalism (p.175): “For Catholics, salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. Christ…did his part, and now we have to cooperate by doing ours.”

This takes me back to the circles. If we are to believe that it is a combination of Christ’s work plus our own “part” that gets us into heaven wasn’t Christ’s death insufficient? Aren’t we saying it just wasn’t good enough? I believe the third circle is what represents what the Bible teaches: Christ’s death for our sins was sufficient to save us. He Himself said, “It is finished” on the cross. That literally means, “Paid in full.” What was paid in full? It has to mean our sin debt was paid in full. It was a gift as Ephesians 2:8,9 says. Our only responsibility is to believe; to put our full weight in that chair; to trust Christ and Christ alone for our eternal destiny.

This is the reason I’m concerned about you. I’m convinced that official Roman Catholic doctrine teaches “a different gospel”. Please consider—for yourself—what you really believe. Who or what are you trusting to get you into heaven? That’s what I am asking—this is the first major purpose of this letter.

The second major purpose of this letter is to clarify (hopefully) what it is that I believe. I believe I am saved and destined for eternal life in heaven—not because of anything I have done but because of what Christ has done. May I quote two more passages of Scripture (again, these are from my Catholic translation)? John 5:24 is from Jesus Himself:

“I solemnly assure you, the man who hears my word and has faith in him who sent me possesses eternal life. He does not come under condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”

Notice—no penance, no sacraments, no baptism, no works—just hearing His word and putting faith in Christ. I have heard His word, accepted it as true and have put my faith—trust—in Christ alone to save me. Is it arrogant (as I once believed) to say that I know that I “possess eternal life”? Am I arrogant to say that I know I will not “come under condemnation”? I don’t think so, because Jesus promises that when someone has put his faith in Him he “passes from death to life.” I would be arrogant if I thought I was good enough to get to heaven through my own good works, but my assurance lies in the greatness of Jesus and the sufficiency of His death and resurrection—not in anything I am or have done. I’m confident that my wife and children can rejoice at my funeral because I will be in heaven with my Lord!

1 John 5:11-13 is more proof of this understanding:

“…God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son possesses life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not possess life. I have written this to you to make you realize that you possess eternal life—you who believe in the name of the Son of God.”

A few observations:

• John said God “gave” us eternal life—past tense. “Eternal” life by its nature must be a permanent gift. How can finite creatures like us earn something eternal? And, if we can lose it, it was never really “eternal”.
• Those who “possess” the Son “possess” life. Those who do not “possess” Jesus do not “possess” life. In other words, Jesus is the only way—it’s all about Jesus, not our works, not our goodness or badness.
• John’s point in writing these things (“I have written this to you…”) was to “make (them) realize” that they “possess eternal life” (present tense)! Who possesses eternal life? “You who believe” in Jesus. There it is again—faith! Eternal life comes from trusting in Jesus alone.

I believe that the Bible teaches that you can know for sure that you are going to heaven when you die. In other words, I believe you can know for sure that you have eternal life—not because any of us will be sinless in this life or because any of us can say enough hail marys or do enough penance. I believe you can know for sure that you have eternal life based on the promises and work of Jesus. This letter to you—my Catholic friends—comes from these firmly held beliefs.

If you have read this far—thank you. I truly appreciate your willingness to read this long and difficult letter. I would love for you to reply. I would love the chance to clarify any part of this letter. What I would most love is for you to respond to the truth of this letter and trust Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.

If I have said something in this letter which offends you, please understand that it is not my intent to be offensive, but what kind of fireman would I be if I left you in a place of great danger without trying to convince you of the reality of that danger? What kind of person would I be if I believed you might not be going to heaven, but I kept my mouth shut?

As I conclude this letter, I pray to the Father who so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that He would open your heart that you will believe and not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Sincerely and respectfully,

Shaun LePage

Pastor, Community Bible Church

906 N. 1464 Rd.

Lawrence, KS 66049

(785) 843-3239

shaun@community-bible.org

Links by former Roman Catholics

These articles and links are not here to cause a fight. If you’re a Roman Catholic, my intent is not to offend you. My intent is to communicate what I believe is of supreme importance for every person on the planet. I hope you will join me in this discussion. You can email me with questions or comments. Please prayerfully consider what I’ve written or what others have written and may God lead all of us to the truth.

Shaun LePage

Pastor, Community Bible Church of Lawrence, Kansas

• Why I Am No Longer Roman Catholic - This is an open letter to all my old Catholic friends or any Roman Catholic - whether we’ve met or not. Many of my former classmates have asked me - over the years - why I left the RCC. I composed this letter to answer that question. Let me know what you think.
• Berean Beacon - A former Catholic priest explains why he is no longer Catholic.
• Catholic Concerns - A former Catholic nun explains why she is no longer Catholic.
• Proclaiming the Gospel - A former Catholic explains why he is no longer Catholic and answers many common questions.
• Just For Catholics - A former Catholic explains why he is no longer Catholic and answers many common questions.

Other Helpful Articles:

• Errors in the Apocrypha - This article clearly demonstrates why the RCC should never have included these books in their version of the Old Testament.

Trust In The Lord?

“Cancer.”

It’s one of the most frightening words I can think of. “Mummy, vampire, alien, monster”—these words used to seem scary to me, but they don’t even come close anymore.

Last week, our phone rang. A close family member has cancer. A mom with four little girls. That’s scary. Since that phone call, I’ve been thinking about another scary word: “Trust.” Trust can be a scary exercise.

Trusting a pilot is scary. “Take me 30,000 feet up and get me back down safely.” If he makes one bad choice, 150 people could die. Trusting a doctor is scary. “Give me just the right amount of medicine.” If she gives you too much, you could die.

Trusting God is scary sometimes too. Seriously. Think about these verses:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5,6; NIV)

Those words came to my mind when I was on the phone. I wanted to say, “God is in control! Trust in the Lord!” I didn’t. It seemed like a crazy thing to say.

I think most people—whether they would say it out loud or not—would say, “If God is in control, why does a mom with four kids get cancer?” I’m sure a lot of people would say, “I was trusting in the Lord, and here I am with cancer—explain that.”

This is why trusting God is scary sometimes. God doesn’t promise us that if we trust Him He will fix everything the way we want it. He asks us to trust Him—no matter what. He asks us to trust His goodness. He asks us to trust His sovereignty. God doesn’t promise us the ending we think is best. He asks us to trust that He knows what is best.

That’s scary, because sometimes the very best thing—from God’s perspective—includes cancer. Sometimes it includes war. Sickness. Death.

Ask Mary and Martha what it was like to trust Jesus to take care of Lazarus. Watching Lazarus suffer through his sickness. Watching their brother die. Watching the stone rolled in front of his grave. They were trusting Jesus, weren’t they? They sent word to Him and asked Him to come quickly. One day went by. Another. They scanned the horizon in vain even on the day of the funeral.

They were dumbfounded that Jesus didn’t show up and heal Lazarus. The disciples were confused that Jesus didn’t hurry to the bedside of their friend. Everyone thought—no, everyone knew—Jesus was making a mistake.

That’s the same way we think. “God, why are you allowing this? Why don’t you do something?” Secretly—deep down, we’re sure God is making a mistake. He’s distracted. Unconcerned maybe. But we don’t see the end. That’s why we can’t “lean on our own understanding.” Our eyes are so weak. Our understanding is so limited. We can’t see the whole picture.

Remember what Jesus said about Lazarus’ sickness?

“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4; NIV)

Jesus saw the ending! No one else did. No one else could. Only Jesus saw the end of the story and knew Lazarus would rise from the dead. He could see where the path was leading. He “made the path straight.”

It’s as though Jesus—through the pen of John—looks down through time and asks us, “Do you trust Me? Do you trust that whenever I allow a war to take place, God will be glorified somehow? Do you trust that whenever I allow a child to die, something eternally good will come of it? Do you trust that whenever a mother gets cancer, everything will work out for the best?”

That’s real trust. That’s also real scary. But He alone can see where the path goes. He alone can see the end. He alone is worthy of our trust.

Praying to the Scarecrow?

Ever prayed to a Scarecrow?

The National Institute of Health (NIH) is spending 2.2 million dollars to study the effects of prayer on people’s health. Similar studies have also been done recently by the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

As part of this newest study, the NIH hired a “shamanic healer” (not defined, but basically a sorcerer or witch doctor) to pray for a woman who was having surgery. No word yet as to whether it worked. What I want to know is who this “shamanic healer” prayed to. Did he pray to a tree for help? Did he ask his dead cousin Bob to heal this lady? Maybe a cricket or a turtle? How about a scarecrow?

Some people just don’t get it. There’s nothing special about prayer exactly. Prayer is just words. Just talking. Just asking. What makes prayer special is the “who” being prayed to. Trees, dead people, crickets and turtles can’t do anything for you. No matter how sincerely or long or passionately someone prays to a scarecrow, he isn’t going to answer. It won’t do any good.

“Like a scarecrow in a melon patch,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them; they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
(Jeremiah 10:5; NIV)

That’s God talking! Trying to talk some sense into people who pray to someone or something other than Him. These “no-gods” can’t do anybody any good. Read what God told the nation of Israel when they started praying to little wooden statues:

The woodworker draws up plans for his no-god, traces it on a block of wood. He shapes it with chisels and planes into human shape—a beautiful woman, a handsome man, ready to be placed in a chapel. He first cuts down a cedar, or maybe picks out a pine or oak, and lets it grow strong in the forest, nourished by the rain. Then it can serve a double purpose: Part he uses as firewood for keeping warm and baking bread; from the other part he makes a god that he worships—carves it into a god shape and prays before it. With half he makes a fire to warm himself and barbecue his supper. He eats his fill and sits back satisfied with his stomach full and his feet warmed by the fire: “Ah, this is the life.” And he still has half left for a god, made to his personal design—a handy, convenient no-god to worship whenever so inclined. Whenever the need strikes him he prays to it, “Save me. You’re my god.” Pretty stupid, wouldn’t you say? Don’t they have eyes in their heads? Are their brains working at all? Doesn’t it occur to them to say, “Half of this tree I used for firewood: I baked bread, roasted meat, and enjoyed a good meal. And now I’ve used the rest to make an abominable no-god. Here I am praying to a stick of wood!” This lover of emptiness, of nothing, is so out of touch with reality, so far gone, that he can’t even look at what he’s doing, can’t even look at the no-god stick of wood in his hand and say, “This is crazy.”

(Isaiah 44:13-20; TM)

If you get the right “Who” then prayer is very special. It’s like asking the librarian for a book. Hiring a carpenter to fix a chair. Asking a singer for a song. If you ask the right “who” your prayer will be answered. “Answered” doesn’t mean you get whatever you ask for—like sticking a quarter in a gumball machine. Sometimes—for reasons we may never know—God says “No.” Sometimes His answer is, “Wait.” Sometimes He says “Yes!” and heals and provides and protects.

Prayer is all about relationship. God is a Father. The Father. Since becoming a father myself, I’ve come to understand these things better. Sometimes my kids ask for M&M breakfasts. Midnight bed times. Pet buffaloes. I know better than they do. The answer has to be “No.” I still love them! In fact, the answer is “No” because I love them. Sometimes they ask for the right thing at the wrong time. I ask them to be patient and “Wait.” But when they ask for the right things at the right times, I delight in saying “Yes!” God is our Father and He delights in listening to our prayers. Giving us His attention. Sharing His unfailing love with us.

The only study that needs to be done won’t cost 2.2 million dollars. These prayer scientists need to study the Bible. Study what God has said about prayer. Study the testimonies of those who wrote the Psalms.

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help,praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,my Lord would not have listened. But God did listen!He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.
(Psalm 66:16-20; NLT)

Sun Worship

I watched the sun rise this morning. It was beautiful. It’s hard to notice any kind of beauty at 6:20 in the morning, but I did.

Just a few hours—I thought to myself—and beaches throughout the world would be littered with people soaking up rays. Pools would be surrounded by vacationers fighting over the lounge chairs in direct sun light. Millions and millions of sun worshipers.

Of course, they don’t really worship the sun. They’re just trying to get a tan. It may result in skin cancer, but it’s not necessarily false worship. Not like the ancient Egyptians who literally worshiped the sun god, Re.

I wondered something. As all those sun worshipers lie there, they see the sun. They feel the sun. But, do they hear the sun?

The sun is so bright, you can’t miss it. We have to buy “shades” to keep the sun’s brightness from harming our retinas. Anyone who can see can see the sun. The sun is so hot, you can only stand it for so long. We have to cool off in the pool. Seek out some shade. Retreat to air conditioning. Anyone who can feel can feel the sun.

But the sun is also very loud. I’m not talking about solar flares or solar wind. It’s true that the sun makes so much noise, it would deafen all of us if we weren’t protected by our atmosphere. No, I’m talking about a sermon. A message the sun preaches every day. In every country. In every language. And it’s not just the sun. The moon and stars and space preach the same message.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4a)

The “heavens” includes everything we see in the sky—sun, moon, stars, comets, space etc. “Skies” is used here as a synonym for “heavens”. Everyone with working eyes has seen the “heavens” and the “skies.” This psalm tells us we’ve also heard “their voice.” All of us.

What do the heavens declare? The glory of God! What do the skies proclaim? The work of His hands! The obvious design of the universe around us is knowledge on display. It is evidence of the existence and power of God. Psalm 19 goes on to describe the sun.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
(Psalm 19:4b-6)

It’s like Exhibit A. It’s like a bridegroom or a champion—proud and on display. You can’t miss it! It’s 93 million miles away, but it couldn’t hide if it tried. Even behind the darkest clouds, the sun makes its presence seen and felt. When it shows up, everything looks different. When it shows up, its presence communicates the wisdom of its Creator. Every time the sun comes up, it preaches the obvious: There is a God! He is amazing and powerful. He made the sun and put it in the sky!

A lot of people—maybe most—would disagree. “It’s not saying anything,” they would say. “All I see is a big ball of fire. I don’t hear anything.”

But they’re ignoring the obvious! What would it take? Would people believe if God drew a smiley face on the sun? Would they acknowledge the Creator if He arranged the stars to spell out the text of Psalm 19? Would people listen if God wound up the planets and they began literally singing His praises?

Probably not. They might be amazed at first. Maybe some would be convinced. Most would enjoy the spectacles for a few days or weeks or months, then go right back to doubting the existence of God. “My mind is playing tricks on me,” they’d say. “It must be aliens!”

As you play in the sun this summer—swimming, skiing, sliding down Geronimo in Hurricane Harbor—don’t ignore the obvious. Don’t forget that looking at the sun is a very bad idea. And don’t forget to wear sun screen when you feel the heat of the sun. But don’t forget to listen, too. Stop for a little bit and listen for the voice of the sun declaring the glory of God. Then you do the same. A little sun worship. Don’t worship the sun. Worship the Sun-Maker.