Abide in Me

Once again circumstances have converged to make me think about a particular topic, in this case, what is abiding in Christ? One trigger was an email from Pastor Matt and the other was the book Growing in Grace, by Bob George. What they said was that abiding in Christ (John 15:4), abiding in the Vine (John 15:5), abiding in the Word (John 8:31), abiding in love (1 John 4), and abiding in the truth (2 John) are all essentially the same thing. But only one of those things really tells us something we can do to abide, and that is to abide in the Words of Scripture. As Pastor Matt said, “Reading them, meditating on them, reminding ourselves and each other of them is abiding in Jesus and allowing His words to abide in us.” And that is certainly something we ought to pursue.

Bob George gives the illustration of a baby in the womb. It is abiding there, with all its needs provided, and there’s nothing it can do or needs to do to maintain the connection with its mother. If you’re like me, it’s hard to believe that abiding in the Vine doesn’t take some real effort to hold on. But as I thought about it, I realized that several of those verses that talk about abiding in Him also say that He abides in us (John 6:56, John 15, 1 John 2, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 4). Even if we could somehow fail to abide in Christ, we can’t force Him to stop abiding in us. John 10:27-29 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (ESV). Other good images are found in Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms,” and Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.”

Now I’m not advocating a laissez faire, do-nothing attitude. I think Scripture is pretty clear that we should endeavor to resist sin (Romans 6:1-2), draw near to God (James 4:7-8), study the Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and assemble together to encourage one another (Hebrew 10:25). But we can tend to make things harder than they need to be. Sometimes we fall back into the trap of thinking we need to earn our way or we believe the lie that “God helps those who help themselves.” Then too we can start second guessing God and take matters into our own hands if He doesn’t seem to be working fast enough or doing what we think needs done. So it’s hard to abide and rest when we’re waiting for something to happen.

In a recent Christianity Today blog, Mark Galli says this about the pursuit of holiness:

“Then, in one of [Paul’s] last letters, he says he is the ‘worst’ of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). I don’t know that we can chalk that up to false humility. I think Paul, the older he got, the more he saw all those layers of sin and wickedness in himself and realized that for all the progress he might have made, in the end, he knew he felt like the greatest of sinners. This is not a picture of the ‘victorious Christian life.’ Yet so much preaching and teaching in American churches seem to suggest that if we just do this or that more fervently—always depending on the grace and power of the Holy Spirit!—we can make significant progress in the life of holiness. We Americans are a very optimistic bunch with a can-do spirit. But I’m wondering if we’re overpromising, with the result that we’ll eventually underdeliver. This can only lead us into despair… Our real hope—and the real reason for our lack of despair and our continuing joy—is the promise of future transformation in Christ. ” (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/may-web-only/real-transformation-happens-when.html)

I struggle to discover some balance between “trying” and “abiding.” Scripture indicates that God has done all that is necessary for our salvation and eventual sanctification, but as Galli points out in this article, the vast majority of our sanctification will take place after the Second Coming of Christ, not during this earthly life. That’s both reassuring and frustrating. It’s wonderful to know that we are saved by grace and not by our attempts to be good enough. But it’s also humbling to realize that we may have to face the same temptations and struggles for a lifetime. We’re forced to cling to our hope for that soon-coming day when God’s grace will be fulfilled and we’ll abide with Him forever in perfect holiness.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3).

Desperate for God

I recently read this quote from Augustine in regards to his struggle with sin:

“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose…! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. …O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation” (Confessions, Book IX, 1).

John Piper comments, “This is Augustine’s understanding of grace. Grace is God’s giving us sovereign joy in God that triumphs over joy in sin. In other words, God works deep in the human heart to transform the springs of joy so that we love God more than sex or anything else” (The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 57).

It seems that Augustine had an encounter with God that drove the power of temptation from him (although he also took great pains to avoid temptation in later life by establishing a monastery). That made me wonder why some people experience rapid freedom from temptation and others don’t. The thought came to me—though God could easily change or remove our temptations and difficulties, He is far more interested in cultivating a deep desire for Himself and for the holiness that He confers and enables within us. An awareness of our sinfulness and weakness certainly should reveal how desperately we need God and His mercy and grace to change us from the inside out.

As I observe the American church in general, I don’t see a lot of people who are desperate for God. I see people who are content with their sin and comfortable with superficial spirituality. There are some who are eager to learn and to wrestle with applying Scripture and living out their faith, but we appear to be in the minority. If all the nominal Christians got serious about knowing God intimately, we would need a lot more pastors, discipleship groups, Christian counselors, Sunday school classes, prayer meetings, and churches. But as I wrote recently, God has to be the one to nudge us toward “holy discontent” (to borrow Bill Hybels term). So long as we are content with the direction our lives are going, there is no motivation to seek change.

Just taking a quick survey of the New Testament, there are many references to struggling, fighting, resisting, fleeing, and being burdened. I don’t think Paul and the author of Hebrews would have much understanding of or compassion for lackadaisical Christians.

• 1 Peter 4:1-2- “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (ESV).
• Hebrews 12:3-4- “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
• 1 Timothy 6:11-12- “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
• 2 Timothy 2:22- “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:8- “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

Some of the harshest words to Christians in Scripture are recorded in Revelation to the churches in Sardis and Laodicea:

•          3:1-2- “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.”
•          3:15-16- “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

May we not be content to tolerate sin, but may God make us discontented with the world so that we become desperate for Him!

View from the Valley

Following up on last week’s post on the blessings of brokenness, I started thinking about various people in the Bible and how God impacted their lives. I suddenly realized that I couldn’t think of a single person who hadn’t suffered in some significant way. From Abraham to Moses to David to Paul, every one of them went through some pretty tough times in order to learn to depend on God and not themselves. Just think of the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” and what each of those people endured.

So the question is, why do we think we can go through life without suffering difficulties? We are not naturally God-dependent in the flesh, so we should expect to have to learn some lessons through pain and trouble. Gerald Sittser writes in A Grace Disguised, “Can I expect to live an entire lifetime free of disappointment and suffering? Free of loss and pain? The very expectation strikes me as not only unrealistic but also arrogant. God spare me from such a perfect life! …To live in a world with grace is better by far than to live in a world of absolute fairness. A fair world may make life nice for us, but only as nice as we are. We may get what we deserve, but I wonder how much that is and whether or not we would really be satisfied. A world with grace will give us more than we deserve. It will give us life, even in our suffering” (110, 115).

That’s one reason the health and wealth “gospel” is so insidious. Sure, we’d all like comfort and success, but at what cost? If comfort means missing out on experiencing God’s sustaining grace, I’m not interested. If earthly riches means eternal ruin, no thanks! (See 1 Timothy 6:9-19.) Sometimes I wonder whether we are doing people a favor by praying for protection from suffering. We don’t want unnecessary suffering, but God can and will use all suffering for His glory if we give it to Him.

I can identify with C. S. Lewis’s comment, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will be” (Letters of C. S. Lewis). Having endured extended times of depression, I find that I am now more willing to pray “Whatever it takes, Thy will be done” rather than “Deliver me!” I’d rather go through the valley with God at my side than live on the mountaintop without really knowing Him.

I think that when we get accustomed to the “good life,” we find it harder to accept suffering when it comes. Would Job have complained as long if he hadn’t been so rich to start with? So many people turn to God when difficulties come, but then are inclined to ignore Him when life gets easier. Some of the godliest people I have known are ones who have endured suffering for a lifetime due to illness. John Piper said, “Any suffering person I’ve ever talked to bears witness to the fact that they have seen more of God and have come to know and trust God more deeply than if their suffering hadn’t come” (http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-should-i-read-the-book-of-job). And Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained.”

Mountaintop views are made more glorious when contrasted with the dark valleys. And even the edge of darkness is glorious when you look into the light. I recently started reading The Pilgrim’s Progress, and John Bunyan describes well the sense of wonder and gratitude as he looked back on the darkness through which he had come:

“O world of wonders (I can say no less),
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! Oh, blessed be
That hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in;
Yes, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down;
But, since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 ESV).

Breaking Down Idols

The messages I heard Sunday in Sunday school and in the church service have melded together in my thinking this week. In Sunday school we’ve been talking about idols, which can be anything that we allow to take priority over God, and can even include good things. And the sermon was on the Christian practices that should point us to God but can sometimes lose their primary purpose.

I think a lot of church goers have made an idol of Christian practices and have entirely lost sight of loving God. It seems more obvious in the Catholic Church, where members are careful to attend mass, go to confession, and say their rosary, but may not have any clear understanding of Jesus as their Savior. However, Protestants can fall into the same trap. How many Bible scholars can quote chapter and verse but have no love for God and others? Some have called seminaries “Pharisee factories.” I think it was Mark Driscoll* who gave an example of a pastors conference he spoke at when he was fairly new in ministry, and some of the older ministers there confessed that they were only preaching because it was the only job they knew. They’d never really known God for themselves and didn’t believe the things they preached.

Bringing it a little closer to home, how many even in our churches can quote the “Sunday school answer” to most questions and are satisfied with that level of knowledge? They don’t care to dig deeper, apply their knowledge, or wrestle with the hard questions of life. It seems that only God can impart a desire for more, and many times that desire comes when we are broken from all our self-sufficiency and comfort. We aren’t likely to discard our idols if we think they are working. As C.S. Lewis said, we’re far too easily satisfied. If we’re comfortable with superficial knowledge and just doing enough to “get by,” then why should we jump into deeper waters?

Do we really want to wrestle with God if we know we’ll end up with a permanent limp like Jacob (Genesis 32)? Is it even possible to convince the comfortable that brokenness is actually preferable? It is in brokenness that we learn that God upholds us (Psalm 37:17); in emptiness that we find fullness of joy at His side (Psalm 16:11); and in weakness we find His strength (2 Corinthians 12:9). I don’t think you can appreciate the blessings of brokenness if you haven’t been there yourself.

I love the following song by Sidewalk Prophets, “Keep Making Me.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI1obeb3A9c Is this something that we dare to pray? God just might answer by tearing down all our comfortable “Christian” idols!

*This blog was written before Mark Driscoll's downfall. I do not endorse him in any way.