Friends or Friended?

Recently I had the experience of feeling more kinship on a particular issue with someone who lives 4,000 miles away than I do with people within a 4-mile radius. While it is true that the Body of Christ transcends national, cultural, and language barriers, it is also true that local churches often fail to create a sense of true community. Rosaria Butterfield has commented that church members are often on a “starvation diet” of fellowship, assuming that an hour or two per week is all that is needed. A recent article on Christianity Today states:

“Technology affords us the opportunity to become involved in multiple communities… groups with a feeling of exclusivity create an illusion of infinite belonging and opportunity for cooperation… These groups reflect a powerful truth in a world that often is shaped by a lack of understanding: You are not alone. In fact, our sense of loneliness, especially in the presence of others, is often due to ignorance. We struggle to invest in the kind of face-to-face conversations that can help us truly know each other. Such conversations require time and psychological effort, and entail not a little discomfort.”

However, this is not a new problem. The following quotes come from Henri Nouwen in personal letters he wrote nearly 40 years ago:

“Mostly we are so afraid of our weaknesses that we hide them at all cost and thus make them unavailable to others but also often to ourselves. And, in this way, we end up living double lives even against our own desires: one life in which we present ourselves to the world, to ourselves and to God as a person who is in control and another life in which we feel insecure, doubtful, confused and anxious and totally out of control… It is amazing in my own life that true friendship and community became possible to the degree that I was able to share my weaknesses with others. Often I became aware of the fact that in the sharing of my weaknesses with others, the real depths of my human brokenness and weakness and sinfulness started to reveal itself to me, not as a source of despair but as a source of hope. As long as I try to convince myself or others of my independence a lot of my energy is invested in building up my own false self. But once I am able to truly confess my most profound dependence on others and on God, I can come in touch with my true self and a real community can develop” (Love, Henri, 46).

“I myself experienced some real affectionate, caring acceptance from my friends during a difficult time in my own life. It was this human acceptance that helped me see God in a new way and allowed me to have a better experiential knowledge of what it means that God’s love is deeper and stronger than any love that humans can give to one another; but without the experience of human love, the experience of God’s love is very hard to come by” (50).

I would question whether we are truly able to fulfill Jesus’s command to “Love one another” if we are merely acquaintances who see each other once a week in the church building. How can we bear one another’s burdens if we don’t know what those burdens are? Can we exhort, encourage, stir up, and pray for one another when we are all keeping our true selves hidden behind a mask? 

I confess this is a constant frustration for me in a culture where the nuclear family has far surpassed the Christian family in people’s priorities. There is little or no recognition that biological families are temporary, but God’s family is eternal. And we don’t even realize that we’re missing out on our calling to be brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers for one another (Mark 10:29-30).

“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. 

A Prayer Refresher

I’ve read several things recently on the subject of prayer in general, and I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s Prayer in particular. I don’t come from a tradition that recites the Lord’s Prayer on a regular basis, so I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. I’ve also been cautious because there are other traditions that use the Lord’s Prayer in rote repetition that can quickly lose all meaning. However, since these words came from Jesus Himself, perhaps they are worthy of a little extra attention.

It hadn’t really occurred to me before that there are just three main petitions in the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts… And lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:11-13 ESV). On the prayer for our daily bread, C.S. Lewis wrote,

“It means, doesn’t it, all we need for the day—‘things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul.’ I should hate to make this clause ‘purely religious’ by thinking of ‘spiritual’ needs alone” (Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer, 27).

While we can drift to one extreme or the other, I think there is a greater tendency to focus on physical needs rather than spiritual needs. I was struck by the fact that Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). In a counterintuitive way, praying for our daily bread is a prayer for more of Jesus. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 6:6). He is sufficient for all our deepest needs, though we may not always think so. I am challenged to pray that I would find my fulfillment in Him alone.

Thinking about the request for forgiveness, again the answer is found in the person of Christ. Because of His death and resurrection, the Old Testament sacrificial system was no longer needed. “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Following the Sermon on the Mount, we get this brief response, “The crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). No doubt this prayer for forgiveness without corresponding sacrifices must have raised a few eyebrows. I am thankful that forgiveness is just a prayer away!

The third petition, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” I suspect is the least used part of the Lord’s Prayer, though it should be significant to us. We all need protection from temptation. Paul said, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). I’ve learned from many falls that it is far easier and more effective to pray for protection from temptation than to pray for deliverance once temptation has already appeared. I have no idea how many times God has diverted me away from temptation—probably far more than I could even imagine. The frequent appeal for protection serves to draw my attention back to Christ and has increased my dependence on His strength in my weakness.

Although the Lord’s Prayer is so named because it was spoken by Jesus, the fact is that every part of it points us back to our Lord and Savior through whom we receive the Bread of Life, forgiveness of the guilt of sin, and deliverance from the power of sin. Apart from Him they are just empty words.

“Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. 

Be First

There are preachers who quote 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV), “...Be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy,’” as a basis for works righteousness. God is holy so He wants us to live holy lives, or so the argument goes. However, that little word “since” makes a big difference in these two verses, meaning that verse 16 is the reason for verse 15. The Greek word translated “You shall be” in 16 is not a command, but future indicative tense. In essence Peter is saying, “Because you will have the holiness of God, therefore you can live holy lives now.

We also can’t ignore the greater context of Peter’s letters, as well as the rest of the New Testament. Peter started his first letter by stating who we are in Christ. “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:3b, 5). On the basis of our identity, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded... As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (13-14). Peter uses a similar format in his second letter, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence... For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue...” (2 Pet. 1:3, 5). Only because of who we are in Christ and all the blessings we have received from Him can we then pursue holy living.

Paul’s letters are also full of reminders of who we are in Christ. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God... [He] who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him... Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:11b, 17, 19-20). Because of who you are in Christ you can glorify God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come... Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 5:17, 20a). As a new creation you can represent Christ to the world.

It’s so easy to get it all backward and think that we have to live holy lives in order to be made right with God, that we must behave a certain way so that we can one day be accepted into His kingdom. But Scripture says that being precedes doing. We are made able to obey because of who God says we already are. This is a truth that I never knew until was an adult. The preachers and teachers I heard in many different churches while growing up never bothered to tell me who I was in Christ. All they seemed to care about was how people acted, and for many of us it was truly an act. We tried to look good so that people would believe we were saved. It created a lot of fear, wondering “How good is good enough?”

This world we live in today is even more confused. Identity gets tied to education, career, sexuality, family role, economic status, etc. Christians need to remind one another of who we are in Christ, because that is the only thing that will last. Everything else will pass away. In the Kingdom, we won’t be known as doctor, lawyer, gay, married, wealthy, or anything else like that. We will be—and already are—children of God, loved, accepted, new creations, righteous, redeemed, free, heirs, brothers and sisters, made alive, faithful, reconciled with God, saints and overcomers. That alone is our motivation for how we should live. If we are living out of any other identity, we have to constantly perform a certain way in order to maintain it.

Sam Allberry said, 

“I’m defined by who I am before God the Father in Jesus Christ... Who I most truly, ultimately, and fundamentally am is someone who is in Christ. And therefore when I’m striving to be holy, when I’m striving to be Christlike, I’m not going against the grain of who I really am, I’m going with it. As someone who is in Christ I am most being me when I am pursuing godliness, not when I am pursuing sin.”

For the person who is in Christ, sin is no longer “natural,” regardless of how it may feel. Instead, righteousness is our new nature and the life we are meant to pursue. Yes, it takes effort, but it is an effort that is guaranteed to pay off as we become more and more like God made us to be.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

The Real Heaven

It occurred to me recently how incredible it is that we live in a society that is relatively moral and self-controlled. Having witnessed firsthand the rebellion that leads some people to do stupid things (in this case, a reckless driver endangering pedestrians), it’s actually amazing that the vast majority of people are usually law-abiding citizens. I think that’s why it is so often hard to convince people that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). People who are outwardly “good people” don’t want to be told they are sinners. People wonder how God could send “good people” to hell when they can come up with a long list of things that they think justify their entrance to heaven. We can all think of people who “deserve” hell far more than the average moral person.

The irony is that many of the same people who think they deserve heaven would be appalled to think that they’d spend eternity praising God and growing in knowledge of Him. If you aren’t interested in a relationship with God in this life, why would you want to spend eternity with Him? The church has not always done a very good job of explaining what eternal life is all about. We’ve adopted images of heaven that have more in common with Islam than with the Bible. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven.) We don’t even know how to deal with stories of near death experiences or how they relate to the real afterlife as described in Scripture. Scot McKnight writes, “It seems to me in the flourishing of these [near death experiences], many Christians will want once again to take a whole new look at what the Bible says about heaven. What they will find, in almost all cases, is a view of heaven that is quite unlike what is experienced in the [near death experiences].”

C.S. Lewis wrote:

“God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call ‘our own life’ remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make ‘our own life’ less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?” (The Problem of Pain, 96–97)

Many people want eternal happiness on their own terms, apart from any relation to the God who created us. They want to edit Romans 8:21-23 to say “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain freedom,” and conveniently ignore the fact that it is the “children of God” who “wait eagerly for adoption as sons.” Only those who know God as Father want the kind of life that He offers. Some preachers try to convert people by saying in essence, “Do you want to avoid hell and go to heaven? Then just believe in Jesus.” What they leave out is a biblical description of eternity as children of God who love and glorify Him.

“But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). Many who long for what they call heaven are completely uninterested in the dwelling place of righteousness. They’d rather have a place of free license to do whatever they want. People want the promises of Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away;” but they don’t care about the presence of God described in 21:3: “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.” We can’t one without the other.

The older I get and the more I see the brokenness of this world, the more I long for the Second Coming of Christ, not just so the brokenness will be fixed and the earth made new, but so I can enjoy the presence of the One I’ve come to know and love. I’m coming to understand what John Piper calls the “superior pleasure” of knowing God, or as Thomas Chalmers called it, “The expulsive power of a new affection.” One day the true desires of our hearts will be revealed and either fulfilled in Christ or destroyed in judgment.

“‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise noted all images are from pixabay.com. 

Off Target

I’ve found this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to be challenging but true:

“[We] must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution. And is not the reason perhaps for our countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience to be found precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not a real forgiveness? Self-forgiveness can never lead to a breach with sin; this can be accomplished only by the judging and pardoning Word of God itself… Our brother breaks the cycle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light” (Life Together, 115-116).

It’s easy to remain in sin if it stays in the dark. Even if you’re truly confessing to God, the secrecy and shame often remain behind. But when you confess before a brother or sister in Christ, they can remind you of the truths of God’s Word—of forgiveness, fellowship, and freedom.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9 ESV). Note that forgiveness isn’t just between us and God, but it is an essential part of having fellowship with one another! Fellowship is hindered by secrecy, sin, and the illusion of superiority.

The comment is often made that the Greek word for sin can be translated as “missing the mark.” But using that as a definition of sin can be misleading. That gives the impression that you didn’t quite hit the bulls-eye, but came close, and if you just try a little harder you’ll be okay. The fact is that in our own strength we can’t even come close to the target. It’s more like trying to shoot an arrow to the North Star. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, it just ain’t happening! That being the case, why are we so reluctant to confess to one another? We’re all in the same boat, so why can’t we admit it?

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16a). It’s also commonly noted that confess means to “say with or agree with.” Yes, we have to agree with God that sin is sin. However, this verse from James leads me to think that we also need to say it with one another— “I’m a sinner.” “You too? I thought I was the only one!” We need to truly hear from one another so we can encourage one another and remind each other of who we are in Christ.

I was just listening to a talk by Amy Simpson on mental illness, and some of her comments can also be applied to sin: “We need to start by humbly acknowledging our own problems… I know that everyone in this room is flawed… The only people who are truly effective in ministering to others are those who are aware of this in themselves… If we set the example of acknowledging the reality that we are imperfect people and that our own families are imperfect, we help create a culture of authenticity that benefits all of us.” We can minister to others by being open and honest.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Secrecy is its own slave-master, but it is slavery that can be broken if we so choose.

 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. 

God Glorifies Himself

The Westminster Confession of Faith is not one I’ve studied in recent years, but a recent reference by Alistair Begg made me revisit it. Chapter 2 Article II states in part:

“God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He has made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.”

The scriptural proof for that statement was taken from Job 22:2-3 (ESV): “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to Him if you make your ways blameless?”

If we accept this statement of the Confession as true (which some may argue), it should bring us to our knees in humility. Man cannot give anything to God, but is only a vessel through which God glorifies Himself. We can contribute nothing to our salvation, sanctification, service, or worship, except by means of God’s actions in and through us. When we remember that every breath we take, every beat of our hearts, and every impulse of our neurons is only possible because of God’s sustaining grace, we shouldn’t be surprised to realize that we can’t by our own efforts do anything for God.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking incorrectly because we use imprecise terminology. We may say things like, “Let’s worship God together,” or “Glorify God in your work.” That’s not necessarily wrong to say, since Scripture uses such commands frequently. However, we need to remember that we can only obey those commands because God is at work in us to glorify Himself. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12b-13). God initiates and we respond.

I realize this steps on the toes of man’s free will. These days I wonder if we are really so free as we think. It often seems more like an illusion to undergird our pride of self-sufficiency and independence. God’s sovereignty and man’s free will is certainly not something that I can explain, and far more learned theologians still debate it. I can only point to the truths of Scripture as God’s Word:

• “The Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and He exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them He has set the world” (1 Samuel 2:6-8).
• “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).
• “For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God” (Psalm 86:10).
• “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Let us worship and serve the Creator because He has made us and has enabled us to do so by His grace and mercy!

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. 

Risky Faith

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 has always disturbed me a little bit. Perhaps it’s the accountant in me who says, “When you’re handling someone else’s money you have to be extra careful.” I certainly agree with the statement that the servant should have at least invested the money to earn a little interest (though at today’s bank interest rates it’s hardly worth it!). But I’m not one to take a lot of risk in hopes of getting a good return on investment.

As I read the story again this week, it became clear to me that Jesus wasn’t talking so much about money or abilities, but about faith. The first two servants in the parable showed evidence of faith. They trusted that their master had confidence in them. They believed that he would not condemn them for taking a risk, even if it didn’t pay off. They weren’t afraid of the consequences. But the third servant lived in fear instead of faith. He was afraid of the master and he feared what might happen if he lost the money entrusted to him. His fears ruled his decisions because he lacked faith. He probably thought he was doing his job by protecting the master’s resources, but he missed out on the commendation the others received: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

That is where the rubber meets the road. We may think we’re doing well in handling the resources and gifts entrusted to us, but we can do that without actually exercising much faith. There are plenty of unbelievers who are running large companies through human ingenuity. Believers are called to a higher standard. Certainly knowledge and ability are required, but so is faith. We can pray for guidance from the only One who knows all things. We can trust that God will accomplish His purposes through us. And we can believe that He will reward those who diligently seek to do our best for Him.

Andrew Murray wrote a challenging little book called Living a Prayerful Life. He points out that prayer is impossible except for the grace of God.

“What folly to think that all other blessings must come from Him, but that prayer, on which everything else depends, must be obtained by personal effort! …He only asks that I, with childlike confidence, wait upon Him and glorify Him… Learn from our Lord Jesus how impossible it is to walk with God, obtain God’s blessing or leading, or do His work joyously and fruitfully apart from close, unbroken fellowship with the One who is our living fountain of spiritual life and power… Our first work, therefore, ought to be to come into God’s presence not with our ignorant prayers, not with many words and thoughts, but in the confidence that the divine work of the Holy Spirit is being carried out within us.”

To be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us requires that we be in close communion with Him. That is what enables us to take risks, knowing that God knows far more than we do. It only looks like a risk from our limited human perspective. The better we know our Father, the more we can trust that He will be pleased with us, even if things don’t turn out quite like we expect. The more we exercise faith in Him, the more faith we’ll have to exercise in the future. But if we rely on our own understanding, the less we’ll trust in our good Father. That’s what I think Jesus was getting at when He said, “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29 ESV). The final judgment is not about how many talents you have to give Him, but about whether you know heart of the Master who gave them to you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan.