Life is Not About You - Part II

In the first part of this series, I introduced an often misunderstood saying of Christ found in Matthew 16:24-25,

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

What does this mean, exactly? Is Jesus saying we must deny ourselves in order to be saved? Do I somehow have to earn salvation by bearing this heavy burden?
My friend, if we could, even for a moment, comprehend the full weight of our condition before God, such questions would die in infancy within our minds, for we would understand the impossibility of saving ourselves or earning anything with God. Even if by some miracle our hearts yearned for God, our spirits thirsted for true life in Him, no amount of yearning and no amount of seeking would avail. We would end in utter despair, still trapped within the prisonous pit, staring in hopelessness at the claw marks of our own desperate efforts upon those slimy walls. In anguish would we slide down and there lose ourselves in defeat. There would be no way out, and no amount of sincerity, or good will, or effort, or desperation, or tears, would change our reality. Apart from Christ, there is only hopelessness, and any hope found in the world apart from Christ is illusion. Any and all other hope in this world is a lie. Do you see? Christ is the source of all hope, and any legitimate hope - any and all! - finds its root in Christ and Christ alone. Why do you think He came to earth? Why do you think He died on the cross? Why do you think He rose again? Paul tells us in Phil. 2,

"For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal." (JB Phillips translation)

Why? Why did He do this? Paul tells us in Romans 5:6,8,

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

And, of course, the famous words of Christ in John 3:16-18,

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in him shall not be lost, but should have eternal life. You must understand that God has not sent his Son into the world to pass sentence upon it, but to save it - through him. Any man who believes in him is not judged at all. It is the one who will not believe who stands already condemned, because he will not believe in the character of God's only Son."

God loved us so much that He made a way to save us, and that way is Jesus Christ Himself. But we Christians often get stuck at this point. Salvation is the end for many Christians. They just want heaven, they don't want hell. They want to know they are right with God. They want to know they are saved, and once they have that assurance, they are satisfied. But the Bible makes it very clear that salvation is not the end, but the opening of the door to the true beginning. A beginning to what? To a restored relationship with God the Father Himself. In our fallen state, it is hard to imagine the reality that we are created to find all of our fulfillment and satisfaction in a real and living relationship with God. This is because all of our desires and affections have been corrupted and turned to anything other than God. We can easily imagine how money will make us happy, but we cannot understand how a relationship with God will satisfy. Let me borrow from a previous blog entry (the sermon), and bring in a passage from Psalms. The Psalmist does an excellent job describing this sentiment in Psalm 73,

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works."

The psalmist found his highest desire in God. Did not Jesus describe eternal life itself as knowing God?

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3)

Life is found in knowing God and His Son, but, as I've already said, because of our sin it is utterly impossible for us to find our life in God or to know Him apart from Christ and what He accomplished,

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" (John 14:6)

God is our life, but He is inaccessible to us apart from Christ. Without Christ, we could only gaze at the tree of life from the other side of a flaming sword - a sword that was an insurmountable barrier between us and God - but in Christ, we can freely taste and see that our God is good, and drink from the fountains of living water.
With this foundation laid down, we are now ready to directly tackle Matthew 16:24-25, the verse with which this blog entry opened, and really understand what Jesus is saying. Think on these things and join me again in the near future when I continue on this topic.

Buried By My Instincts

I've been thinking and meditating on the "life is not about you" theme, preparing to write the second part. I've been busy with work and life lately (not to mention the fact I'm preparing for a week long trip away from home), but I ran across a song today with lyrics that got me thinking. It's a popular song by Linkin Park called, "Easier to Run". It starts off like this,

It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone

The song goes on,

Something has been taken from deep inside of me
The secret I've kept locked away - no one can ever see
Wounds so deep they never show, they never go away
Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played


(If I could change I would - take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would)
(If I could change I would - take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(I would take all my shame to the grave)

After the chorus, the next verse continues,

Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past
Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have
Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back
And never moving forward so there'd never be a past

We find this verse later in the song,

Just washing it aside
All of the helplessness inside
Pretending I don't feel misplaced
It's so much simpler than change

[Chorus]
It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone

Like it or not, this song reveals something of our culture to us. Too many people identify with these lyrics, too many people understand what is being said, for us to say this artist is expressing something unique or out of the ordinary. This song is not about finding truth or defining right and wrong - it is not about finding answers or solving problems. It is nothing more than expression. The artist is (quite literally at some points) screaming out the pain within, expressing in art those things many people harbor but do not consciously explore.
Many Christians will see these lyrics and immediately detect all sorts of problems: hopelessness, guilt, selfishness and self protection, self pity, and the list could go on. It is easy for us to condemn all that is wrong here, but these are real people. How can we say we love God and yet so easily turn our backs? We feel smug because we have so correctly identified their problems and have all the answers right here in our heads. It's not good enough to know the answers. What good will this knowledge do if we hold it captive in our complacent minds and never live it out and "share it out" in love? But I digress.
What would you say to this person? What could you say? This is a hard question for me, and I'm not sure how I would answer in person. But I know what my heart is saying now as I hear this song. It is jumping up and down in excitement! It is saying, "I've found the answer! I've found hope! I knew the death of which you speak, but now I've found life!" Then, I remember my own past.
It is hard to admit, but I used to identify with this kind of song. It brought out that sweet sorrow of self pity in which I often lingered. Oh, what a terrible harvest grew from that self pity! The syrupy nectar turned to poison with my soul. Please, please, do not indulge in self pity - it will destroy you. It pushes all your pain and guilt deep within, where it can germinate and grow into something far more terrifying while blinding you to what you are becoming.
Yes, our instinct is to run. Run away from the pain, from the guilt. But our instinct only makes it worse. The very act of running creates more problems, which produces more pain, which creates more guilt, which makes us want to run... and we, the dead, are buried by our instincts. I'm sure Satan sits back with a huge grin lurking across his face at the sight of this downward spiral. He loves seeing those shackles weigh heavier and heavier.
The amazing thing is, Christ provides direct answers to almost every aspect of this song. The hopelessness, the difficulty of changing, the pain of the past, the guilt of our own choices. We can look back and see all these are endemic of the fallen human race. Paul himself faced these very things some 2,000 years ago. He was once proud, self righteous, treacherous, even murderous. He could have looked back and regretted that he persecuted Christians, bringing them to death. But Paul tells us,

"I am deeply grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ (to whom I owe all that I have accomplished) for trusting me enough to appoint me his minister, despite the fact that I had previously blasphemed his name, persecuted his Church and damaged his cause. I believe he was merciful to me because what I did was done in the ignorance of a man without faith, and then he poured out his grace upon me, giving me tremendous faith in, and love for, himself. This statement is completely reliable and should be universally accepted:- 'Christ Jesus entered the world to rescue sinners.' I realise that I was the worst of them all, and that because of this very fact God was particularly merciful to me. It was a kind of demonstration of the extent of Christ's patience towards the worst of men, to serve as an example to all who in the future should trust him for eternal life." - 1 Tim. 1:12-16 (JB Phillips translation)

And what does one do with that terrible past, Paul? What of those pains and scars?

"Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have 'arrived', spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me. My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal - my reward the honour of being called by God in Christ." - Philippians 3:12-14

What is the difference between "leaving the past behind" and running away from our problems? The difference here is Christ. Paul is not running away from his past, but rather pursuing a goal (Christ Himself) and is refusing to allow his past to get in the way of that goal. Christ makes it possible for us to refuse our past like this, because, in Him, our past no longer condemns us. Running away from problems does not make them go away. Standing up and taking the blame does not remove the shame. Not even death will rescue us from the consequences of our choices. There is nothing we can do, the past is etched in history, and forever cries out against us. We live a death worse than death. But Christ came to earth and did the impossible: He makes it possible for the past to be erased and a new life begun in Him. In a paradoxical twist, we "die" to that old death-life and are resurrected into a new life in Him. Paul says it like this,

"Have you forgotten that all of us who were baptised into Jesus Christ were, by that very action, sharing in his death? We were dead and buried with him in baptism, so that just as he was raised from the dead by that splendid Revelation of the Father's power so we too might rise to life on a new plane altogether. If we have, as it were, shared his death, let us rise and live our new lives with him! Let us never forget that our old selves died with him on the cross that the tyranny of sin over us might be broken." - Romans 6:3-6

Before I go, I want to share something I read recently on this topic of art reflecting us (and us reflecting art). Ravi Zacharias gives us some thought provoking reflections on art and music, which I highly recommend to anyone who wants a little brain exercise. Enjoy!

Life is Not About You

Eric Sipe, a pastor from whom I learned a great deal, is fond of saying, "Life is not about you, life is about God." Now, one can take this many different ways, and it is sure to offend those who cling to the notion that God is man centered. Let it offend, for it is the truth. But let's be precise here. When I say, "Life is not about you," I am not saying that you are to deny yourself happiness. In fact, once you discover the meaning of "life about God," you will indeed find true happiness - yes, you will find true life. Christ puts it this way in Matthew 16:24-25,

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

There are those people who see this word from Christ and feel a tremendous burden because they think Christ is saying you can't have eternal life (salvation) unless you somehow manage to deny yourself and all your fleshly impulses. After all, Jesus does say we have to deny ourselves, and he says we must bear our cross, which is quite burdensome sounding, and so all the evidence seems to point to this interpretation. They may even attempt to live their life according to this interpretation for a while, only to meet with failure. Well, there will be those who will succeed, or think they have succeeded, but in reality have only blinded themselves to their own failure. To make matters worse, some prominent Christians have seen this very real problem, and go to the extreme of trying to explain away such teachings of Christ. They might say He was speaking this only to the specific disciples sitting around Him at that point, so it doesn't apply to us today. This is a terrible error, and adds yet another misunderstanding of truth. Jesus Christ said a great many things that God decided not to record in the eternal scriptures. What scripture holds, then, are those few choice words that God selected in His infinite wisdom to include in scripture and defend for all eternity. Am I to believe that God would forever defend, protect, and preserve words from the mouth of Jesus Christ that have no meaning to me today, other than some kind of historical record? No, I believe in what Christ said here, and I believe it applies to me today. Let us unpack this, then, and see what it holds.
Oh, you want to unpack this now? Well, one advantage of a blog is that I can get some much-needed sleep now, and unpack this in installments. So, meditate on this truth and join me again tomorrow (or the following day) when I post my first follow up.

Jonathan Edwards' Life was About God

Jonathan Edwards is a "spiritual hero" of mine. He lived from 1703 to 1758, and God used him mightily in his relatively short life. His writings are a great inspiration, and most, if not all, are freely available online. I encourage anyone to make the effort to read what he has to say. I realize he writes in an older English, but labor to understand his words and you will be richly rewarded. I also encourage everyone to read John Piper's book long introduction to Jonathan Edwards, which too is freely available online from the Desiring God web site.
Jonathan Edwards, along with many other brothers and sisters in Christ, has helped reveal to me that life is about God, and given me a clearer vision of what it means that life is about God. His God ward life started in earnest at the age of 19,

"On January 12, 1723, I made a solemn dedication of myself to God, and wrote it down; giving up myself, and all that I had to God; to be for the future, in no respect, my own; to act as one that had no right to himself, in any respect. And solemnly vowed to take God for my whole portion and felicity; looking on nothing else, as any part of my happiness, nor acting as if it were; and his law for the constant rule of my obedience: engaging to fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, to the end of my life."

It doesn't take long before one begins to feel overwhelmed by a man such as Jonathan Edwards. It is tempting to think that he was some sort of "special" Christian. We think, "That's great for him, but I'm just not that kind of a Christian... I'm not at that level." I must echo the words of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who also encouraged people to, "Read part of the life of Jonathan Edwards,"

How feeble does my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me.

This is not to say we should beat ourselves up if God doesn't do all the great things through us that He did through Jonathan Edwards, or if we fail to achieve his incredible feats of self discipline. Indeed, Jonathan Edwards was, apart from Christ, just as much a sinner as any of us. It becomes clear throughout his writings that when he says he "gave up himself to God," he does not mean he earned anything with God. No, he understood that his heart was desperately wicked and, no matter how noble his efforts, he would always fall short of God's perfection. He understood that it is Christ and Christ alone who is our salvation, our righteousness, our hope, and our life. Jonathan Edwards "gave up himself" in faith. A faith that believes something to be real even when it is not visible or obvious. Yes, I am a sinner in myself, but in faith I see the reality of what I am in Christ. Look at his motive for such a radical decision. It was not to earn salvation or any stature before God, but rather, "to take God for my whole portion and felicity; looking on nothing else, as any part of my happiness..." Our flesh deceives us into thinking happiness is, well, anything except Christ. But faith lives according to a reality that is not naturally seen: God is our happiness, our satisfaction, our delight, and our life. To "give up ourself," then, is to turn away from trying to find life in anything other than Christ, and instead turn to Christ alone in the faith that He is life. To turn away from relying on anything other than Christ alone. This is a "selfish selflessness". The only selfishness permitted for a Christian. It is the selfishness of pursuing the only thing that is more valuable than everything else as our one true joy and satisfaction: God Himself. Jonathan Edwards gave up himself in faith, knowing that apart from Christ any such effort was futile and laced in sin, but believing the reality that he was free in Christ to pursue the joy of the "law" because he was no longer condemned by the law.
We possess everything Jonathan Edwards possessed in Christ. There is no reason we cannot know God as Jonathan Edwards did! There is no reason we cannot come into the same relationship with Christ through faith. The point of this man's life wasn't what he accomplished, but Who he knew. Even so, I am grateful for what God did accomplish through him, for, because of his writings, he reaches 300 years into the future and beckons us to join him on this journey to see and know more of our wondrous God.

Negative Emotions

A recent event in my life caused me to google around on the topic of a biblical answer to negative emotions, and I want to share an article I found. Now, I don't know anything about the author of the article to which I just linked, and I don't know anything about the organization that hosts the page, so I'm not going to recommend anything else over there at this point (maybe I will once I investigate the organization some more). However, the article stands on its own, and at first glance, I agree with what is said.
Our society teaches us that our feelings are very important. This is a partial truth. It is true that our feelings are important to a certain degree. God gave us emotions for a reason, and as long as we understand their purpose, their boundaries, and their "abnormal" state (see the linked article above for detail on this idea of their abnormal state) due to the fall, then we can say that feelings are important as an indicator. The problem comes when we start to trust those feelings, when we don't question whether the feelings are reflecting truth. Feelings are an indicator, but not a compass. Negative feelings may indicate something is wrong, but we should not rely on them to tell us what is wrong. I may feel that someone has hurt me. This feeling tells me something is wrong, but I should not trust the feeling on what is wrong (that the person truly meant what I feel like they meant). If anything, the feeling may indicate an area of pride in my own self. But even if the person did mean what I feel like they meant, why should I hold it against them? Or why should I use it to justify closing myself off to them? True love endures all things. I suspect, though, that many times the other person didn't mean what we feel like they meant. In many cases, our feelings get it wrong.
The article does a pretty good job of discussing various aspects of negative emotions, so I won't say anything more at this point. Read the article, and feel free to share your thoughts via the commenting mechanism.

Sermon

I recently had an opportunity to speak for the first time at my new (ish) church. I was assigned the passage in Mark on John the Baptist. Needless to say, public speaking can be very nerve racking for someone who doesn't do it on a regular basis. But life is not about me now, and I long to share what I've found. After listening to myself (which is quite a strange experience), I can see I have a lot of room for improvement, but here I present my message, warts and all. The link is to a 12MB .mp3.

The Gift of Gifts

O Source of all Good,

What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
   thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
   my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
   his self-emptying incomprehensible,
   his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
   he came below to raise me above,
   was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
   when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
   to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
   when Deity and humanity were infinetly apart
   he united them in indissolubale unity,
   the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
   when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
   and no intellect to devise recovery,
   he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
   as man to die my death,
   to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
   to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
   and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
   and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
   my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
   my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
   to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face,
   and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
   embrace him with undying faith,
   exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

from the Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

What more can I say except that this puts into words my soul, and so, Amen.

Out of the silence

Over the void His Spirit moved,
To the emptiness He spoke -
Where once was darkness,
There pierced through light.
Where once was death,
Came forth life...

He spoke,
He drew,
He loved,
He knew,
He breathed me
To life.

Out of the silence
I must respond.
Deep calls to deep,
My voice must echo what it has heard,
I long to reflect what I have seen.

Oh Jesus Christ, Creator of all, I look to You and hold to You alone for all of life. These feeble words come from one who is weak, and are buried amongst the billions of other words continually churned out by the sea of humanity. But here I stand, oh God, and hear I speak. All of life is about You. Oh how I long for all my life to be centered around You! I delight in You, for You are more valuable than all else. You have created me to find my life in You, and in You will I find my life. Have mercy on me, have grace upon me, and fill me with Your Living Waters.