The Highlight of My Life
Rather than going straight back into the Bible, I think it would be appropriate to get a portrait of one young man's born-again experience(mine, in fact). I will do my best to retell the story as accurately as I can. In short, I was Nicodemus. Even more, I was "The Rich Young Man" in Matthew 19.
I had grown up going to Sunday School. I always believed in God. I always believed in Jesus. I went to Youth Group. I played in the worship band. I prayed. There even was a few occasions I read the bible. If you asked me if I was a Christian, I would have thought it a stupid question. "Of course! I've always been a Christian" I'd say...
Unfortunately, it was only because I didn't know what a "Christian" really was. If you asked me to articulate the gospel message, I might have told you it was whatever Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John said. When asked what I would say on the day of judgement if God asked me why I should be let into heaven, I would have told Him that I was a pretty good person and that I believed in God.
Birthing Pains
When I got to college alot of this started to change. I started to hear the gospel in its real, raw form. I started to understand sin as not just stealing and killing but setting up anything other than God as god. It's easy to picture the old testament idolatry of bowing before a physical idol. It's easy to say that's not us.
American Idol
But where does your time go? Where does your energy go? Where does your money go? Show me your schedule, show me your internet history, and show me your credit card bills and I'll tell you (I will SHOW you) who your god really is. It's where you go for comfort, for identity, for satisfaction. For many, it's alcohol. For many men, it's pornography. For many, it's a good thing made bad by worshiping it. Like a spouse, children, a job, or money.
For me it was freedom. There was just alot of things I didn't want to do- I didn't want to give God my time or money. I didn't want to wait for marriage to have sex. I didn't want to limit my ability to get drunk when I wanted to. So I didn't...
Sin and Love
This idolatry is the ultimate transgression. To willingly turn your back on your loving creator and the relationship he wants with you, worship the gift he's given you, and, in turn, forget about him. Sin is ugly. God hates it. BUT... He loves you. And that's when the story gets crazy
While we humans were doing everything we could to run away from the God who is crazy about us, God sent his son who He loved deeply, Jesus, down in the form of a human. Jesus lived the perfect life that we hadn't lived and finally, he fulfilled his mission and took the punishment that we deserved (separation from God, death, hell, wrath, etc.) and died bloody on a cross.
What was the purpose? So that we might return to God and have relationship again (this wouldn't be possible with sin in the way). This is the greatest news ever. He didn't have to save anyone, but He did because He loves you and wants to be with you.
Back to the U of M
There's only one real response to this: A complete reorientation of your life around this truth. Here I was, knowing that God demanded all of me, the words of Christ echoing in my head, "Those who would save his life must lose it..." For the first time, I started to realize that I was... not a Christian. A Christian is one who has put up the white flag and let God be God in their life. Praying a prayer, going to church on Sundays, etc. meant nothing unless you really mean to give God the rightful place in your life- to say, "Yes, Lord- YOU are the arbiter of my destiny. Do with me what you want and make me who you want."
And so, one day, after God had effectively destroyed my idol, I surrendered. I repented of my false, shallow, pseudo-Christianity, and God moved. He had saved me.
I opened my eyes for the first time.
Alive from the dead
I was a spiritual baby with different eyes and a new heart. One of the first things I remembered was a brand new desire for holiness. I no longer asked other Christians about what gray-areas I could get away with. I hated sin! I didn't want to sit around and watch TV. I wanted to read the Bible! I wanted to learn everything I could about Jesus and philosophy and other religions. My apathy had been replaced by a deep, deep, thirst for truth that consumed me. Bible study was no longer this uncomfortable place where I'd zone out for an hour. I looked forward to it more than any other hour in the week. I COULDN'T get enough of it. All of a sudden I was praying constantly, the Spirit for the first time making his home in my body.
It was not that I had made a resolution to become more religious and try to read the bible. It was that, for the first time, I WANTED to read the bible.
It wasn't that I made a resolution not to go get smashed at parties. It was that my appetite for that stuff was nearly gone.
It was not that I willed myself to talk about Jesus, it was that for the first time he wasn't boring but he was life itself, the very air I breathed. He was the mighty King of Kings who the universe was made through come down to be with me. It was a reflex to talk about Jesus.
It was an experience. It was wild.
It has only been in the last year that I have started to understand exactly what happened to me that February.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
New Creation in Old Flesh (2) - The New Birth
The New Birth
Thabiti Anyabwile writes, “Nothing could be more eternally important than Christian people knowing what the Bible teaches about the new birth and knowing that they have experienced it.” Did you get raised in a Christian house? Did you pray a prayer one time but that's about the extent of your spiritual life? Jesus said to a good, believing man one time, "That's not enough- unless you're born again you're not going to see the kingdom of God." My prayer is that you stick around with this post long enough to care about the new birth- your life in the now and your eternal destiny depend on it.
The new birth: What is the phenomena? Crawling back into the womb? Some weird academic, theological concept? A term to decide how someone will vote? "Born again" is a term that gets thrown around by everyone from George Bush to Charles Gibson. I read the book "Finally Alive" by Piper and to be honest I wasn't terribly impressed with how entertaining/mind blowing it was. BUT fewer books I've read this year have had more of an effect on how I see the world.
Jesus on the New Birth
Here it is: John 3:1-8. Pay attention to who Nicodemus is. Read it slow and picture the secret nighttime conversation between the well-respected leader and the God-man.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus' qualifications
Do you know anyone like this? Nicodemus is a religious man. He goes to church on Sundays and goes to Bible studies. Heck, he's even a leader in his church. (V1) He's a religious and moral man among men (the Pharisees were the most religious people in the world.) Furthermore, Nicodemus acknowledges, without a doubt, God's work in the person of Jesus Christ (V2).
He believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And so we say, "that should be more than enough, right? He's a really good person AND he believes in Jesus. That's the formula right? This guy is going straight to heaven!"
BUT... look what Jesus says! He says, essentially, "NO, Nicodemus". Jesus says that "You must be born again!" And heaven? Unless something drastic changes and you are born again, "YOU CANNOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD" (V5)... Nicodemus has not experienced God in a real, saving way. If he were to die on this day he would be one of these unfortunate souls who thought their whole life that they were destined for heaven.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
“Look, Lord! I did all those church bake sales! I read my bible, I got baptized and confirmed, I fed the poor, I prayed every night, I even built houses and shared the gospel on a missions trip! But God, I prayed a prayer one time. But God I said I believed in you! And what’s more, Jesus, I did it all in your name. I did it for you!” As we read the Lord’s terrifying reply in verse 23, we clearly see a distinction between professed faith and saving faith.
If this passage has never shook you up then something is wrong. We must not pass this off as an interesting concept or something to think about for someone we know. We must, though it may cause us fear and trembling, follow the exhortation of Paul, “Examine yourself, to see whether you are in the faith.” (2 Cor. 13:5)
It is possible to see God's work in Jesus without seeing God's work in you. How do we go about discovering if we and the people around us have had a born-again experience? What do we do if we have not had a born-again experience or aren’t sure? I’ll try to get a post up soon…
Thabiti Anyabwile writes, “Nothing could be more eternally important than Christian people knowing what the Bible teaches about the new birth and knowing that they have experienced it.” Did you get raised in a Christian house? Did you pray a prayer one time but that's about the extent of your spiritual life? Jesus said to a good, believing man one time, "That's not enough- unless you're born again you're not going to see the kingdom of God." My prayer is that you stick around with this post long enough to care about the new birth- your life in the now and your eternal destiny depend on it.
The new birth: What is the phenomena? Crawling back into the womb? Some weird academic, theological concept? A term to decide how someone will vote? "Born again" is a term that gets thrown around by everyone from George Bush to Charles Gibson. I read the book "Finally Alive" by Piper and to be honest I wasn't terribly impressed with how entertaining/mind blowing it was. BUT fewer books I've read this year have had more of an effect on how I see the world.
Jesus on the New Birth
Here it is: John 3:1-8. Pay attention to who Nicodemus is. Read it slow and picture the secret nighttime conversation between the well-respected leader and the God-man.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus' qualifications
Do you know anyone like this? Nicodemus is a religious man. He goes to church on Sundays and goes to Bible studies. Heck, he's even a leader in his church. (V1) He's a religious and moral man among men (the Pharisees were the most religious people in the world.) Furthermore, Nicodemus acknowledges, without a doubt, God's work in the person of Jesus Christ (V2).
He believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And so we say, "that should be more than enough, right? He's a really good person AND he believes in Jesus. That's the formula right? This guy is going straight to heaven!"BUT... look what Jesus says! He says, essentially, "NO, Nicodemus". Jesus says that "You must be born again!" And heaven? Unless something drastic changes and you are born again, "YOU CANNOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD" (V5)... Nicodemus has not experienced God in a real, saving way. If he were to die on this day he would be one of these unfortunate souls who thought their whole life that they were destined for heaven.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
“Look, Lord! I did all those church bake sales! I read my bible, I got baptized and confirmed, I fed the poor, I prayed every night, I even built houses and shared the gospel on a missions trip! But God, I prayed a prayer one time. But God I said I believed in you! And what’s more, Jesus, I did it all in your name. I did it for you!” As we read the Lord’s terrifying reply in verse 23, we clearly see a distinction between professed faith and saving faith.
If this passage has never shook you up then something is wrong. We must not pass this off as an interesting concept or something to think about for someone we know. We must, though it may cause us fear and trembling, follow the exhortation of Paul, “Examine yourself, to see whether you are in the faith.” (2 Cor. 13:5)
It is possible to see God's work in Jesus without seeing God's work in you. How do we go about discovering if we and the people around us have had a born-again experience? What do we do if we have not had a born-again experience or aren’t sure? I’ll try to get a post up soon…
New Creation in Old Flesh
Alright, so here's what I want to do. I want to do a "series" of sorts on what it means to be a new creation in old flesh. It's a balancing act, knowing that God lives in Christians but yet we still sin. It's something I've been extremely passionate about lately and I would love to shed light on it. As I started writing I realized that this is going to be much more than a quick post. Here's my proposed outline:
I. New Birth
a. Intro
-Why anyone would take the time to read/think about this.
-The new birth in the bible (answering why this is eternally important)
b. Brett's new birth
c. The effects of the new birth
d. What the reality of the new birth means
III. Old Flesh
a. The reality of sin after the new birth
b. Grace abounding for those who believe
IV. Conclusion
I. New Birth
a. Intro
-Why anyone would take the time to read/think about this.
-The new birth in the bible (answering why this is eternally important)
b. Brett's new birth
c. The effects of the new birth
d. What the reality of the new birth means
III. Old Flesh
a. The reality of sin after the new birth
b. Grace abounding for those who believe
IV. Conclusion
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Ragamuffin Gospel
A journey to faith in grace
I start by saying that this is one of the best books I have ever read. If I were a crier, I would have cried in the first chapter.
Brennan Manning has found a way to take the idea of grace from the head and the mouth and somehow shove it down into the heart.
It's simply all about grace and it's motivator- the insane love of God. Throughout the book, I noticed the change that was being wrought in me. O the joy resulting from putting faith in grace! (Think for a minute on that one.) Freedom- o how beautiful. Freedom from the wages of sin, freedom from fear of the punishment or even the "grumpiness" of God.How often do we speak of grace but how little do we live by it? This is the idea that Paul was crazy about. It's what saved Peter and the rest of the New Testament all stars.
Honestly, this freed me from a burden I didn't even know I was carrying. My worry is that being surrounded by an American church that doesn't always live their convictions about grace I'll fall into the same old legalism... but that's why I have a copy and I will put this in my short list of "rereaders". It has helped me see the things I've been talking about for years in a drastically new and real light.
Just read this grace-infected, love-filled, and gospel-saturated book. You will not be the same afterwards.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Paradox of Conversion
The paradox of conversion is that before we are truly born again and made alive to Christ, the idea of pure grace seems like license for all sorts of immorality. And indeed this logic is sound! It is true that no amount of sin will keep you from the love of God.
However, if or when we are made alive to Christ, the scales are pulled back, and, at long last, WE SEE... at that moment the last thing we want is to abuse grace with sin. Our new hearts long for purity and we stop asking "What can I get away with?" and start asking "How do I get out of the mud of sin and make it to the still water of holiness?"
However, if or when we are made alive to Christ, the scales are pulled back, and, at long last, WE SEE... at that moment the last thing we want is to abuse grace with sin. Our new hearts long for purity and we stop asking "What can I get away with?" and start asking "How do I get out of the mud of sin and make it to the still water of holiness?"
Friday, April 10, 2009
Two strands of happiness
Here's a thought: what if there were two forms of happiness, let's call them "bigme" and "smallme". What if they appeared and felt, for the most part, the same. What if, however, they led to drastically different ends.
Bigme
I think that bigme is what we Americans think of when we think of loving someone, of encouraging someone, and ultimately, making that person happy.
Bigme says "Wow, you are amazing. You have done so well to get here and we love you because you are great. Look at all you have and all that you have done."
Bigme happens when:
-The glory of your name is what you take joy from.
-Athletes, actors, and celebrities are worshipped.
-Your talent or fame bring honor to you and you alone.
-Any other situation where you yourself are blown up above your fellow humans.
What follows these? A shot of joy, of course. But what happens when these are the only shots you get? I would guess that over time, a cycle of these shots would have at first have subtle, and finally, terrifying effects.
Effects of Bigme:
1. Pride. Enough said. You are the man. Other things and people are insignificant.
2. Loneliness and Isolation. While yourself and others are building your pedestal you will find that all of a sudden, hardly anyone can relate to you. As you look around the others that are at your height may understand you but, then again, they can't look up and talk to you- they're too busy building and maintaining... and they're so far away.
3. Illusion of independence: You get the feeling that you don't need anyone- no person (and no God?) outside of yourself. This is dangerous and it truly is an illusion.
Long ago it was written that this "bigme" brand of happiness leads ultimately to death. The road has its ups and downs but the destination is eventually the same.
Are we then left to avoiding joy like the plague in a sort of gray existence? A lifeless ascetism that leaves us on a low even keel. I praise God that it is not this way.
Smallme
I know what you're thinking. "Lame. 'Small me' is the last thing I want deep down." What I say is, "Look deeper".
There is somewhere in us a desire to be in awe observing rather than being in awe of. Why do we go to the Grand Canyon? If you have been here then you know the take-your-breath-away feeling. The one where you just forgot yourself, swept away in the beauty and age that you couldn't hope to come up with yourself in a million years. It's good. It's real. It's humbling.
Smallme happens when:
-We take joy from being part of a whole- a whole that is on a completely different scale than what we could ever hope to accomplish by ourselves.
-We point to something greater than ourselves
-We start living for someone or something else outside of ourselves.
Effects of Smallme:
1. We start to view the people and things in our lives as undeserved gifts. We are humbled by them and we appreciate them for the gifts they are.
2. We get off the rollercoaster that is based on the insulin shots of attention. We build our foundation on a stable rock. When you are put down by another, you do not hurtle. You smile and you agree. Your joy isn't wrapped up in your self-esteem.
3. We are liberated to think of all the beatiful things in the world- and nothing is more ugly than self-obsession and self-engrandizing.
Instead of climbing the slippery, fleeting mountain of bigme happiness, just look for the Grand Canyon. You can't miss it.
Bigme
I think that bigme is what we Americans think of when we think of loving someone, of encouraging someone, and ultimately, making that person happy.
Bigme says "Wow, you are amazing. You have done so well to get here and we love you because you are great. Look at all you have and all that you have done."Bigme happens when:
-The glory of your name is what you take joy from.
-Athletes, actors, and celebrities are worshipped.
-Your talent or fame bring honor to you and you alone.
-Any other situation where you yourself are blown up above your fellow humans.
What follows these? A shot of joy, of course. But what happens when these are the only shots you get? I would guess that over time, a cycle of these shots would have at first have subtle, and finally, terrifying effects.
Effects of Bigme:
1. Pride. Enough said. You are the man. Other things and people are insignificant.
2. Loneliness and Isolation. While yourself and others are building your pedestal you will find that all of a sudden, hardly anyone can relate to you. As you look around the others that are at your height may understand you but, then again, they can't look up and talk to you- they're too busy building and maintaining... and they're so far away.
3. Illusion of independence: You get the feeling that you don't need anyone- no person (and no God?) outside of yourself. This is dangerous and it truly is an illusion.
Long ago it was written that this "bigme" brand of happiness leads ultimately to death. The road has its ups and downs but the destination is eventually the same.
Are we then left to avoiding joy like the plague in a sort of gray existence? A lifeless ascetism that leaves us on a low even keel. I praise God that it is not this way.
Smallme
I know what you're thinking. "Lame. 'Small me' is the last thing I want deep down." What I say is, "Look deeper".
There is somewhere in us a desire to be in awe observing rather than being in awe of. Why do we go to the Grand Canyon? If you have been here then you know the take-your-breath-away feeling. The one where you just forgot yourself, swept away in the beauty and age that you couldn't hope to come up with yourself in a million years. It's good. It's real. It's humbling.
Smallme happens when:
-We take joy from being part of a whole- a whole that is on a completely different scale than what we could ever hope to accomplish by ourselves.
-We point to something greater than ourselves
-We start living for someone or something else outside of ourselves.
Effects of Smallme:
1. We start to view the people and things in our lives as undeserved gifts. We are humbled by them and we appreciate them for the gifts they are.
2. We get off the rollercoaster that is based on the insulin shots of attention. We build our foundation on a stable rock. When you are put down by another, you do not hurtle. You smile and you agree. Your joy isn't wrapped up in your self-esteem.
3. We are liberated to think of all the beatiful things in the world- and nothing is more ugly than self-obsession and self-engrandizing.
Instead of climbing the slippery, fleeting mountain of bigme happiness, just look for the Grand Canyon. You can't miss it.
Voted the Funniest Religious Joke of All Time
I really got a kick out of this.
Emo Philips on Church Unity
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"
Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
Emo Philips on Church Unity
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"
Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
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