Spurgeon on the Importance of Participating in the Local Church

“I know there are some who say, “Well, I have given myself to the Lord, but I do not intend to give myself to the church.”  Now why not?  “Because I can be a Christian without it.”  Are you quite clear about that?  You can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient?  What is a brick made for?  To help build a house.  It is of no use for that brick to tell you that it is just as good a brick while it is kicking about on the ground as it would be in the house.  It is a good-for-nothing brick.  So you rolling-stone Christians, I do not believe that you are answering your purpose.  You are living contrary to the life which Christ would have you live, and you are much to blame for the injury you do.”       -Charles Spurgeon

                                   

The Power of Grace

The Lexam Bible Dictionary describes grace as the "gracious or merciful behaviour of a more powerful person toward another." Pretty much everyone would agree that this is a good quality to express and experience, both individually and as a society. And yet we live in a world that, for whatever reason, seems to be caught up in celebrating just the opposite. Power exerted over another, even to the lengths that the other person is humiliated, dehumanized and demeaned. This is contrary to the way that we should treat one another and it is an overturning of the appropriate way for one in power to act towards one under authority. It is, however, not that shocking in a world that is itself held in the grip of the most abusive power ever to exist.

In the Bible we read of this power that dominates every single person. It is the power of sin. In Romans 3:9, the Apostle Paul states that every single person is under sin. The picture is stark and difficult to accept, and the images these words convey are not enticing. These are not the images of which fantasies are made. Sin is the tyrannical master, pressing down on us and exercising its power over us, simply because it can. This is the authority that sin possesses over each of us. Unless something is done to emancipate us, we are under obligation to suffer sin's every whim and pleasure. It demeans us and breaks us. It rips into us and leaves us as little more than husks of what we were meant to be. "Sin is the grim tyrant," wrote Charles Spurgeon, "to whom, in the first place, man has bowed his willing neck." With a sadism and cruelty that stands unmatched in our world, sin breaks us under its whip, ultimately destroying us forever.

Contrast this depiction of sin's power with God's use of His power. God does not use His infinite power to dehumanize or demean us, but rather reaches out to us in compassion and grace. His behaviour toward us is kind, patient, compassionate, restorative. His power is not used against us, but rather on our behalf, for our good. It is the gracious and merciful behaviour of one who is more powerful then we are, yet uses that power for our good. This picture of grace reaches its climax in the gospel, where His power is brought to bear on sin and its domination of us, delivering us from the tyranny of its control over us as we reach out with broken fingers to receive it. And having delivered us, this power now conveys us into His family, where we experience His power in all its graces. Even when he disciplines us, He isn't doing it in order to satisfy some depraved desire, but rather He disciplines us as His beloved children, in order that we might come to the understanding that His grace is our good and so desire it even more.

Our broken world desperately needs to come face to face with this kind of behaviour. It needs to see the expression of power, not in the hands of a twisted and depraved sadist, but rather in the hands that were pierced for our transgressions and for our healing. In a word, our world needs to see the grace of God, and it needs to witness those of us who have been the benefactors of this grace celebrating it with an enthusiasm that super-abounds.

A "Seeing" Motif in John 1:35-42

There seems to be an  interesting motif built around the idea of seeing and perceiving in John 1:35-42. In v. 36, John the Baptist "looked at  Jesus as He walked," then speaks to two disciples that were with him, declaring "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The first term, ἐμβλέπω (emblepo), tells us that John did more then just give passing notice to Jesus as He walked by, but rather he directed his attention toward Him. The second term, ἴδε (ide), reinforces this idea. We often find this term utilized when a speaker wishes to prompt attention toward something or someone--"Look! Pay attention!" is the intent. Together, these terms referring to seeing and perceiving may serve to set in motion a stream of related ideas that form a unity within the narrative with significant theological impact.

The immediate response of the two disciples to John the Baptist's declaration is to follow Jesus (v.37). This in turn prompts an interesting question on the part of the Savior in v.38: "What do you seek?" ζητέω (zeteo) is a very common word in the New Testament related to searching for something. This seeking may utilize the eyes, as in the search for something that has been lost, or it may involve an intellectual search, as in the process of determining meaning and understanding. The context may indicate a deeper theological meaning is intended, or at least inferred as a double entendre.

The disciples respond that they wish to know where Jesus is staying, to which He in turn responds, "Come and you will see" (v.39). Here we find a fourth term related to the concept of seeing: ὁράω (horao). The disciples are invited to come along with Jesus, with the promise that they will see. And that is just what they did. They "came and saw where He was staying", remaining with Jesus for a period of time.

Verses 40-41 records the immediate response of one of the disciples, Andrew, and it is his response that ties together the usage of these terms and brings out their theological force in the narrative: "He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah.'" (v.41). The word εὑρίσκω (heurisko) can imply an accidental discovery, but it can also be related to a discovery that is the result of purposeful search. John's careful utilization of these terms may suggest the latter. In either case, the motif of seeing and perceiving continues and now finds its full expression. Beginning with John the Baptist looking at Jesus and inviting his own disciples to behold the Lamb of God, Andrew's journey takes him from beholding to seeing what he had been seeking, to perceiving Jesus to be the Messiah, culminating in an evangelistic encounter with his brother Simon that, in effect, begins the cycle again.

Here is a screenshot from Logos tracing this motif:

Yellow and Pink

A children's classic by William Steig came across my desk today.

Yellow and Pink is the story of two wooden figures who become self-aware and attempt to figure out how they came to be. As they discuss the question of their origin, one of them, Yellow, takes on a perspective that they are accidents of chance and time, while the other, Pink, remains skeptical of the idea. Throughout the story, Yellow's explanation for their existence get more and more fanciful as Pink challenges him.

At the heart of the story is the philosophical question, "Where did I come from?" Am I an accident of nature, or do my uniqueness and intricacies suggest design? As the final pages of the story suggests, Yellow and Pink are wooden figure who exist because a man made them, which begs the question, who made the man?

Yellow and Pink, while not directly pointing to God as Designer, does offer a springboard for discussing the topic with children in a way that they can comprehend. It is not a slamdunk on evolution, and it should not be utilized that way (I could almost hear the cries of "strawman" reverberating from evolutionists as I read the story.) The classic apologetic argument of design for the existence of God is important and complex, and Yellow and Pink serves to set the stage for starting the discussion with young children in a way that they can conceptualize and understand.

A Review of 50 Shades of Grey: A Movie I've Never Seen (And Won't)

It goes without saying that attempting to write a review of a book without having actually read it is usually not a good idea. The same is certainly true for movies. It should seem obvious that I cannot speak to the qualities or issues of a movie if I haven't watched that movie. But sometimes I simply cannot in good conscience watch a movie, and yet that same conscience that prohibits me from viewing it also tells me that, as a minister of the gospel, I must speak up. So, I will not watch 50 Shades of Grey, nor will I read the book. And yet I will attempt to write a review. Such is the juxtaposition of my conscience's simultaneous prohibitions and compellings.


One way I could accomplish this would be to comb through other reviews of the book and movie and piece together a review based on what others have said. But as I will argue below, I am not convinced that doing so is appropriate. Instead, I am going to review a statement Paul makes in Ephesians 5:11-12 and apply that to 50 Shades of Grey, because I am persuaded that in these verses the Apostle not only makes it crystal clear that Christians ought not see this movie, but he also gives us an example for how to speak the truth on issues like this when we can not participate and so cannot address specific examples. He writes:

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret." (ESV)

We need to see that these verses occur in a context in which Paul has been drawing a stark dichotomy between light and darkness (beginning in verse 8). As believers, we are to walk as children of light and bear the fruit that is the hallmark of who we are: goodness, righteousness and truth (verse 9) and live in such a way that we try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord (verse 10). Unfruitful deeds of darkness are not pleasing to the Lord and so the Apostle commands Christians to have no part of them. "Do not share in the fruit of darkness," he says. In other words, do not participate in things which are contrary to who you are in Christ. You have been taken from the realm of darkness and "now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (verse 8).

This is important. Paul is building his prohibition in verse 11 on the fact that, as Christians, this is not who we are anymore. These works of darkness belong to a domain that is now foreign to who a Christian is. He does not speak of it directly here, but the image of the cross looms over these verses. As a Christian, I have been crucified with Christ. I have died to who I was and have been raised up to a new kind of life, a life whose fruit is goodness, righteousness and truth and pleases the Lord (see Romans 6:1-11). To participate now in these things that belong to the realm of darkness is to live as though that crucifixion never happened. Paul's prohibition doesn't come from thin air, not does it come from some useless, sex-fearing ethic of another age; it is tied to the eschatological reality of our deliverance from the old era of Adam and into the new era of Christ. Do not participate because that is not who you are anymore.

Instead of sharing in the works of darkness, Paul directs his readers to expose them. Christians have a responsibility not only to avoid participating in sinful activity but also to expose it for what it really is and where it comes from. How do we expose these secret things that hide in the darkness? By being who we are--children of light. The light of the life-changing, era-replacing gospel lived out in us illuminates every dark crevice in which these deeds are secretly done. The gospel dispels darkness. It reveals secrets. It uncovers every corner of the heart and exposes it to God's goodness, righteousness and truth. I am to walk as a child of light so that everywhere I go, this light will expose the unfruitful works of darkness which are vainly practiced in secret and set them in contrast to the darkness-piercing glory of God.

Isn't it interesting that Paul gives us no details about what exactly he is referring to as "unfruitful works of darkness"? He does not write a frame-by-frame review of these secret sins. He simply says that they are unfruitful works of darkness of such a wicked nature that he will not shame himself by speaking of them. As I would understand Paul, this probably means I should steer clear not only of the movie itself, but also of reviews, even those by well-meaning Christians, that include laundry lists of the film's depravity. It's just not necessary to read or speak of those things.

Instead, I am seeking to imitate Paul's example as I write this review. I do not need to see a movie like 50 Shades of Grey in order to expose its secrets, nor do I need to give example after example in order to demonstrate its depravity. I do not need to know the details in order to speak with the authority of the Word of God and say that, if you are a Christian, you do not belong in that theater. It is enough that, if you are a Christian, the things depicted in this movie do not belong to who you are in Christ. That is enough. Do not participate. Do not share in these secret works of darkness. I like the way Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung) put it on February 10, 2015 in a Twitter post: "If some things should not be spoken, they should certainly not be viewed with popcorn (Eph.5:11-12)."

The Christian's Highest Affection

Last night my daughter screamed at her little brother. I mean, she let him have it at the top of her lungs! I had just returned from a conference and had brought her a little box of special soap and he broke the cardboard box that her soap had come in. And when my wife intervened, my daughter yelled at her as well. Over a soap box. At that point, I intervened. And after the intervention was over, I sat down with her to talk about what had happened.

"Why are you so upset?" I asked. "Because Haddon breaks my stuff and doesn't respect it," was her reply. Even though she wasn't yelling anymore (she never yells at me--one of the perks of being dad, nobody yells at me no matter how angry they might be), I could hear in her voice that the anger remained.

"It's just a box, honey. And your brother is only three years old. It isn't worth getting so upset that you yell at your brother, and it certainly isn't an excuse to raise your voice to your mom."

"But it's important to me," she said. "It is special because you gave it to me and he wrecked it even when I asked him not to."

And there it was. The little box was important to her. She valued it and she had turned on her little brother and her mother in unbridled fury because of the level of importance she had assigned to it. She had elevated her affection for that object over her affections for her family members and when something had happened to this little thing she so valued, she snapped. And she sinned.

We do the very same thing every time we sin, because sin, at it's root, is the preference of something over God. We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We were created with the purpose of desiring God over everything else. The psalmist wrote,

"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth...
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works." (Psalm 73:25, 28)

This is the intent when God created us. This is the way things ought to be. Sadly, this is not the way things are.

Ever since the Fall, man has been supplanting God's rightful place in our lives with other things. When Eve gave into the serpent's temptation and ate the fruit, she desired something more then she desired God. Her desire for God was to be demonstrated by her obedience to His command, but in her disobedience, she demonstrated that He was not her greatest desire. This pattern has been repeated ever since.

And so it is with every sin. We sin whenever we desire something more then we desire God. When we yield to the temptation to sin, we are elevating the pleasure experienced in connection with that sin over the value of God in our lives and the joy that comes when things are in their proper perspective. We are declaring that we do not believe that God's nearness is our good, and we are putting our faith in something else. Sin is the unseating of God from the throne of our lives. He is displaced and replaced. And He will not share His glory with another.

As a Christian, I must learn to understand sin as God sees it. I must learn to see that for me to desire anything more then I desire Him is to sin against Him. This means that I must constantly be aware of the enticements around me, especially those that are not sinful in and of themselves, but can become issues of sin if I elevate them above God. In this series of posts, it is my hope to address how the Christian can do battle with this enemy that continuously seeks to unseat God from His rightful place as our highest affection.

Desiring God Pastor's Conference

I just returned from the 2015 Desiring God Pastor's Conference  in Minneapolis and I thought I would share a few thoughts on the experience. In the coming days I hope to post  a few remarks on each of the plenary messages.

This was my first time at a DG conference, so I have nothing to compare it to as a means of judging this year's event from previous events. All in all, I thought it was an excellent conference. The conference theme was"The Rebellion of Man and the Abundance of Grace." There were six plenaries (DG has made the videos available), each of which addressed an aspect related to this theme.

• The Origin, Essence, and Definition of Sin (John Piper)
• In Adam All Die: Sin's Guilt and Curruption and the Remedy of God's Grace (Bryan Chapell)
• The Wages of Sin: The Punishment of Evil at the Cross and in Hell (Conrad Mbewe)
• The Guilt of the Nations and the Gospel of Repentance (Steve Childers)
• Make War: The Pastor and His People in the Battle Against Sin (John Piper)
• O, That Day, When Freed From Sinning (Sam Storms)

In addition to the plenaries, there were workshop tracks for participants to attend, including tracks for elders, pastors, worship leaders and women (as I understand it, this was the first year that DG invited women to attend the pastor's conference). I wish that there had been more workshops available. As it was, they only offered them on the first day of the conference.

I enjoyed a series of short talks on the seven deadly sins. A new book on the topic has been published on the topic and each of the authors took turns talking for about 10 minutes each on one of these besetting sins. It was a unique approach to a subject that usually doesn't find a lot of attention in protestant circles. You can view these talks here.

The bookstore was typical, with recommended reading on the conference theme, and there were the usual representation of seminaries and colleges. A number of ministries were on-site as well, and it was neat to talk with their representatives and hear how God has been working through them. 

I was impressed with the music that led off each session. It was deep, theologically rich, and Christ-centered. I heard a number of songs that I was unfamiliar with, but they were easy to pick up and sing. Far from being performance-oriented, the music was clearly designed to invite conference attendees to participate in worshiping God. I have already recommended several songs to those involved with music at my home church to consider including in our repertoire.

All in all, the conference was excellent and I enjoyed it a great deal. The plenary messages were the highlight. Each speaker was passionate about his material and subject and crafted his message with pastors in mind. Each speaker is himself a pastor and so understands well the challenges of ministering to people.

Finally, the conference is in the process of transferring from Desiring God to Bethlehem College and Seminary. This year (and next) was a cooperative effort between the two, after which Bethlehem will be taking over organizational responsibilities.