Master 204: Love, obedience, and earning

There are various passages in Scripture that point to the idea that salvation does not come through obedience and that obedience to the Law is not sufficient for salvation. I think that one should even go so far as to say that the Law was never intended to be a means of salvation.

I think this is a point on which many Christians get confused. They think that there is some sense in which the Law was supposed to be a means to salvation, but since it turned out that no one could keep the Law perfectly, God set up an alternative way to salvation. And it's not hard to see how some might get this idea from certain Scripture passages. In fact, if this were to be an adequate response to these issues, I would have to address myself directly to the task of interpreting those key passages. But for now I want to just make a few suggestive remarks.

The problem that many Christians face goes something like this: if salvation does not come through the Law and if obedience to the Law or to the commands of Jesus does nothing in the way of 'meriting' salvation or grace or love or favor from God, then what is the point of the Law and what is the point of obedience? If salvation does not come through obedience, then what is the point of obedience?

Here's the suggestion: Obedience is important to our relationship with God in the same way that obedience is important to a child's relationship with his parents. Is a child earning love when he obediently cleans his room? Is a child earning his place in the family when he obediently takes out the garbage? What about when he gets good grades at school or does well at sports?

I hope that you (parents) do not view your children as earning love, favor, or affection by their obedience. But I also know that it's very easy for children (and parents too) to fall into that mindset. After all, when one fails to obey, there are generally consequences--distasteful consequences. And when a child is obedient, rewards and good things often follow. But is the goal of obedience to achieve or acquire those rewards or good things? No.

Hopefully what I am saying resonates with any parent who reads this. You know (even if your child doesn't) that your son or daughter does not earn love or affection by being obedient. Instead, your love for your child is unconditional. Your love for your son or daughter is prior to his or her obedience.

At the same time, you also recognize that dis-obedience does interfere with the parent-child relationship. The love may not change but the experience of that love and the assurance of that love may grow or fade, depending on whether the child is at the center of the parent's will or else living in rebellion.

Hopefully you can also see how challenging it is to articulate exactly what role obedience plays in the parent-child relationship. Is obedience important? Yes. Why should a child be obedient? Because they'll get punished otherwise? That may be part of it, but that can't be the fundamental reason. Because that's how they earn love and a place in the family? That also misses the mark--although disobedience does interfere with the parent-child relationship.

The closest I can get, at the moment: obedience is important because obedience comes with being a part of a family and is an important part of what it means to be a child and member of a family. Obedience is part of how a child shows respect for Mom and Dad and is part of how the child expresses his love, regard, and esteem for his parents. For that reason, obedience should also be the occasion for great joy. The child expresses regard and love for the parent through obedience, and the parent should reciprocate in appropriate ways.

This is all pretty vague, I understand. But the important thing to see, I think, is this: we may have trouble getting a handle on exactly what role obedience plays in the parent-child relationship, however, we know that something has gone terribly wrong, when the parent or child (or both) think of obedience in terms of earning. As soon as that happens, the joy that comes from obedience evaporates. The child no longer finds joy in doing the will of Mom or Dad. And the parent no longer finds joy in his child's obedience. Obedience no longer expresses love and regard. Rather, it is just the accomplishment of what is necessary in order to get what the child wants. Obedience becomes an economical transaction: work in exchange for benefits.

This strikes at an important point about causes, reasons, and explanations. Why should the child obey? Two broad category of reasons are open to us: (1) because of some result that the child is trying to attain or (2) because of the character of the child. In the first case, the cause (in a sense) of obedience is something that comes after the action; it is a goal or result that is being sought. In the second case, the cause is something prior to the action; some principle or character-trait or disposition already existing in the child. Notice, then, the difference: (1) the child cleans his room because he wants to go to the movies this weekend. (2) the child cleans his room because his mom asked him to and he loves his mom. Two completely different mindsets. One lends itself to thinking about obedience in terms of earning. The other completely undermines all thoughts of earning.

Just as earning through obedience is inappropriate in a parent-child relationship, so it is also inappropriate in a Father God-child of God relationship. We may have trouble pinning down exactly how obedience fits into our relationship with God, however, we know that something has gone terribly wrong, when we start to think about obedience in terms of earning. At that point, the joy of obedience evaporates. It's no longer about expressing or reflecting love and regard and affection. Instead, it's an economical transaction.

Maybe I'll work on revising this further another time. Hopefully if I circle around the central theme and idea enough, I'll get to the point where I can actually articulate the main point itself.

Certainly this is not an easy topic. Most of us, without thinking, fall into this mindset of earning. Even people who grow up in loving homes with caring parents can start to view life in this way. But we need to realize, at some point, that this mindset reflects a very selfish way of thinking. We are not caring about the other person when we look at the world in this way. Instead, we are just focusing on making sure that we get what we deserve and that no one cheats us and that we do not exert ourselves more than is warranted by the compensation we receive.

Think about it.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 203: Five Reflections for the Church, Part 16

Prayer as Preparation
Composed: 21 March 2010

Since my church is looking forward to the beginnings of some new ministry projects, because I want to continue to emphasize the importance of prayer, and because we are in the middle of the season of Lent, it seems appropriate to draw our attention back to the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for His ministry. Matthew begins to describe this event with the following words:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'" (4:1-3)

I don't have space or time to look at the whole account. The main thing that I want you to notice is that the events that Matthew records in this chapter actually take place at the end of Jesus' time of fasting, which raises a question: What was Jesus doing during those forty days? What is there to do for forty days out in the wilderness? Walk around? Look at the cactus? Wish that you had some food or water? Think about how miserable you are? Many people, when they think about fasting, do focus just on the deprivation, hardship, and misery of the whole experience. But that doesn't seem to have been Jesus' experience. Jesus was not 'deprived' during His time of fasting. Jesus was not in a weakened, miserable state when Satan came to Him. Actually, He was at the top of His game. He confronted Satan face to face. He went toe-to-toe with the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies, the Ruler of the Kingdom of the Air, and He emerged victorious.

Satan challenged Jesus with temptations more powerful and alluring than anything that you or I have ever had to deal with, and He was able to stand with unshakable boldness and confidence. How did Jesus do that? The key lies in the forty days that He spent in prayer and fasting. During those forty days, Jesus was not focusing on how hungry He was or how miserable He felt. Instead, He was communing with His heavenly Father. Separated, as He was, from the things of this world--all the noise, distractions, messages, expectations, conflicts, and priorities--He was able to focus just on God. And at the end of that time, He was ready both to face Satan's strongest temptations and to enter into His ministry.

Isn't that what we want for our ministry? We want to be able to move into our communities with confidence and determination. We want to be able to stand in the power of the Spirit against any challenge or temptation that may confront us. We want to lead our lives in such a way that people recognize the life of Christ in us. How can we do that? It starts with prayer.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 202: Five Reflections for the Church, Part 15

Imitating the Father.
Composed: 31 January 2010.

The following is one line from the latest version of the Vision Statement that the Focusing Leadership Team has been working on: "Our church is committed to building relationships in our community such that people ask spiritual questions...". It's important to remember that the goal of our outreach and service in the community is not just to be nice, or just to make people more comfortable. Rather, our goal is to bring people into contact with the light and life that God has made available to human beings through His Son, Jesus Christ. That life is to be encountered in us. We want to be living and conducting our lives in such a way that it is evident to everyone that there is something different about us. And we should hope and expect that, because of that, people will begin to ask questions.

But just what is that way in which we are supposed to live? What is that something different that is supposed to set us apart? And how are we supposed to answer such questions when they come? For helpful insight into these matters, we can look to no better place than the life of Jesus Himself. It goes without saying that Jesus lived a life that was radically different from the norm. People recognized that incredible power and authority accompanied this man, as well as abundant grace and compassion. In the fifth chapter of John, that apostle records an incident in which Jesus heals a man by the Pool of Bethesda who had been sick and lame for thirty-eight years. The Jewish leaders took issue with this miracle because Jesus had performed it on a Sabbath. According to the Jewish Law, no work was to be done on the Sabbath, and they saw Jesus as violating that commandment. In fact, John says, "[T]he Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath." (5:16, emphasis mine)

Jesus' activities definitely caught people's attention, and prompted questions and even strong objections. How did Jesus respond? How did He explain His actions? What did He have to say for Himself? Just this:

"My Father is working until now,
and I Myself am working." (John 5:17)

Jesus' answer is so simple, yet it reveals so much about His character. When Jesus healed that sick man, He had one thing on His mind: what His Father was doing. He wasn't thinking about what the Jewish Law said. He wasn't thinking about how the religious leaders would respond. He wasn't thinking about how his actions would be perceived or interpreted. He was just thinking about what His Father wanted. A couple verses later He expands on this point: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner." (5:19) When Jesus healed that sick man, He was just following the example of His Father.

Now consider your own case. If someone were to ask you why you do the things that you do, could you answer with the simplicity, sincerity, and straight-forwardness that Jesus did? Why are you so generous when you have so little? Why are you so gracious, even to people who treat you badly? Why do you give up your free time to serve others? Why do you care so much, even about complete strangers? There are an awful lot of reasons why we don't do these things. But Jesus' relationship with His Father was so real to Him and so much a part of His life, that when He saw that man lying on his mat, He knew what to do and did it, without a second thought. Jesus was so full of power and authority, grace and compassion because of His relationship with His Father. And He was so convinced of His Father's goodness and greatness that He was even willing to follow Him to the cross.

This world announces to us that there are many different ways to live life well. We can choose one path or another. It doesn't really matter; all of them will eventually lead us to something approximating happiness. But for Jesus there was only one path. It was obvious to Him. The Father's way was the best way--even if it made the Pharisees angry, even if it led to His own execution. And because He lived His life in that way, each and every moment of each and every day, people saw and recognized that there was something different about Him. They knew that He had something that was real and good. And He was able to lead them into the same kind of relationship with His Father that He had. That is our calling and opportunity as well: to do what Jesus did and to do it in the way that Jesus did.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 201: Five Reflections for the Church, Part 14

Responding to Christmas.
Composed: 03 January 2010.

In mid-November, members of my church gathered together for the second summit of the Focusing process. There we began to look at some details about the composition and needs of our city. I was especially struck by what community leaders were identifying as the most significant needs of people in Riverside: to feel loved and secure; to understand the ‘higher power’; to develop a sense of moral compass in the younger generations; to get answers to life-questions, a sense of worth, and help with life’s pain. We also talked about the composition and resources of our own church and began to brainstorm together about how our church could most effectively impact the community.

The second Focusing summit took place a week after our annual society meeting and a week before Thanksgiving. Both of these were wonderful occasions for remembering and celebrating God’s goodness and all that He is doing in our lives and through our church. During this season of Advent, Pastors Dan and Lee drew our attention to the wonders of God’s love—looking at how God’s love is like no other, how it is manifested in His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, how it will be victorious to reign, and how it is from everlasting to everlasting.

Hopefully you’ve taken time to reflect on and actively respond to the outpouring of God’s love and grace that the Christmas season celebrates. It’s often hard, amidst all the hustle and bustle, to keep Jesus Christ at the center. Yet we need to take seriously that it will be impossible for us to meaningfully impact our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ unless that gospel is also present and active in our lives.

Think again about the list of significant needs that our community leaders identified. Consider that it’s during the holiday season that many people have the hardest time coping with pain, with feelings of worthlessness, and with a sense of insecurity and being un-loved. The question we face, then, is this: Are we ready and equipped to point people in the direction of the answer? Sure it’s easy to say, “God is the solution. God is the answer,” but is that truth being lived out in our own lives?
Think about this: How many Christians do not feel loved and secure? How many have little or no understanding of who God is and what He is like? How many Christian young people (and Christian adults) have a mixed-up moral compass? How many Christians are going through life without a clear sense of direction or purpose? How many Christians struggle with feelings of worthlessness and are just not able to cope with life’s pain? The sad truth is that many, many Christians are struggling with the exact same issues and needs that face their non-Christian neighbors. And my goal here is not to rebuke or shame anyone for failing to meet some kind of standard or expectation, but just to raise a serious question that we need to face as we look at trying to impact our community and culture for Christ. If we, Christians, have the same problems and needs as the culture surrounding us, how can we claim to have the solution? Do we really understand what it is that we are recommending to others? Are we living out what we preach and proclaim to the world?

Two thousand years ago or so, the eternal Son of God descended from His throne in glory and took on a human nature. He was born of a virgin in a stable on the outskirts of a small village in an insignificant corner of the Roman Empire. And in that simple, unpretentious setting, God Almighty, the Great I AM, touched the world in a totally new and different way. In the hills outside of that tiny village, angels appeared to a group of shepherds and announced this "good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people". And they proclaimed,

"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
 -- Luke 2:14 (emphasis mine.)

Who would have thought that something that began so simply could have had such monumental significance: a little child, wrapped in rags and resting in an animal's feeding trough--yet He was the Son of God, the Light of the world, and the image of the invisible God. Glory, grace, and truth accompanied Him. Life was in Him. And not only did He point the way to a full and rich relationship with God; but He was and is that one, true Way. To those trapped in guilt and shame, He offers mercy and grace. To those who have been rejected He offers love and acceptance. To those who are sick and suffering, He offers healing and comfort. To those who are caught up in destructive lifestyles, He offers a new way to live. To those who recognize their profound need and broken condition, He offers nothing less than a loving, interactive relationship with the God of the universe.

All of this, and more, is available to anyone who responds to the good news. When that group of shepherds heard the angel's announcement, they left the fields to find that baby in a manger. Wise men from the East saw the star, and they left their homes and traveled hundreds of miles to find and worship the King of the Jews. Fishermen heard His invitation and they laid aside their nets to follow Him. Now, how will we respond to this good news? Will we set aside what we are doing in order to draw close to the Christ-child? Amidst all the busyness and craziness of this season and this world, that's not always easy to do. But that simple decision might just make all the difference in the world.

As we enter into 2010, I hope that you will continue to be reminded of the glory and magnificence of the gift that God gave us in His Son, Jesus Christ. I hope that you will experience the presence and reality of Christ’s love and grace and peace, as you choose to draw close to Him, in such a way that it will become evident to everyone that you, also, are a child of God. The Christmas season has not really ended. Each and every day we have the opportunity to celebrate and respond to Christ’s Incarnation. Each and every day we can choose to walk with Him.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.