“Here is the end of the matter: God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our praise is not because he won’t be fully God until he gets it, but that we won’t be happy until we give it.
This is not arrogance. This is grace.
This is not egomania. This is love.”
– John Piper, Is Jesus an Egomaniac?
by Jared Wilson
This is the major malfunction of American evangelicalism’s political idolatry. To the extent we equate God’s blessings and his kingdom coming to bear with the right men on Capitol Hill and the right laws in place, we settle for moralism and a righteousness born of self.
We’d all reject this theologically, I think, but it is implicitly central in a lot of the rhetoric and the exasperation from American Christians about what’s wrong with America, etc etc.
As I was waiting for my ride to the airport from the hotel in Louisville, KY last week after the Together 4 the Gospel Conference, I was reminded of cultural Christianity’s real concerns. The transportation attendant at the hotel noticed from my tag that I was from Vermont. Our conversation went like this:
Him: “You’re from Vermont?”
Me: “Yup.”
Him: “That’s great. That van load that just left were from Vermont.”
Me: “Oh cool.”
Him: “Yeah. Good to know you guys are getting the good news out up there.”
Me: “Well, we’re trying.”
Him: “Need to get some Republicans up there.”
And there I was transported back to everything that drives me nuts about American evangelicalism: the equation of the good news with something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, in this case — as is often the case — with political conservatism.
I believe many Christians in America would be satisfied if “the culture” just stopped using pornography and drugs and alcohol and stopped aborting babies and started “acting right.” As far as I can tell, that would be a Win.
But it’s not a win. A land where everybody acts right and is on their best behavior, where peace reigns and social decay is no more and the poor are helped and the hungry are fed, but Christ is not worshiped as the sole supreme satisfaction in all the universe, is a big fat FAIL.
As C.S. Lewis says:
We must not suppose that if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world.
The message of the gospel is not “Behave!”
But that is the message American evangelicalism — Southern and Northeastern, and most other places — has been proclaiming. It is at its heart pharisaical.
We are called to preach not moralism but Christ crucified, foolishness to American culture and a stumbling block to American Christians.
Michael Horton illustrates this well in his book Christless Christianity:
What would things look like if Satan really took control of a city? Over half a century ago, Presbyterian minister Donald Grey Barnhouse offered his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast nationwide on CBS radio. Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over Philadelphia (the city where Barnhouse pastored), all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, “Yes, sir” and “No ma’am,” and the churches would be full every Sunday . . . where Christ is not preached.
There is a great difference between “being good” and the gospel. Some call it moralism. Moralism, in fact, blinds us from the gospel by giving us something of “the real thing” ensuring that we miss out on the true gospel all together. We must remember that Christ came first not to make bad people good but to make dead people live. If we forget that, our Christianity will turn out to be Christless.
http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/2010/04/message-of-gospel-is-not-behave.html
-by Kevin DeYoung
A few weeks ago I started a Sunday evening series on 2 Peter. We’re only seven verses into the book, but already I can see the importance of knowledge in this epistle. In verse 2 Peter asks that grace and peace be multiplied to his hearers in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In the next verse we see that we have been granted all things necessary for life and godliness through our knowledge of Christ. And again in verse 5 Peter instructs us to add to our faith virtue and to virtue knowledge. Growing in knowledge is clearly central to our growth in godliness.
No doubt, this knowledge is more than an awareness of doctrinal propositions. Peter wants his Christian audience to grow in discernment and in a relational “knowing” of God. But it would be a mistake to make “knowledge” nothing but a synonym for living a godly life. Why specify the need for knowledge in verse 5 if it is not different than virtue or self-control or godliness? When Peter talks about grace and peace coming through knowledge he means that learning about God, which includes a cognitive dimension, is key for Christian maturity.
Now, some Christians love to talk about knowledge and learning about God. But, as we all know, the smartest doctrinal whipper-snappers don’t always set the standard for Christlikeness. Because of this, and for a host of other reasons I imagine, some Christians are eager to downplay the importance of knowledge. They are quick to point out “knowledge puffs up.” They will talk about how doctrine matters, but a lot of other things matter too. And make no mistake, the “but” in that sentence is what really matters.
So how should we talk about knowledge, doctrine, and learning in the Christian life? I want to propose a simple change of the conjunction that may help clear up a lot of problems.
Instead of saying “Knowledge of God is important, but…” let’s say, “Knowledge of God is important, so that…” In the first sentence knowledge is quickly affirmed, only to be subtly undermined in the second half of the sentence. But if we use “so that” instead of “but” we’ve managed to affirm knowledge without apology while affirming that knowledge (the good kind at least) is producing something. Growing in knowledge is crucial so that we can receive peace and grace and be empowered for holiness.
The problem is not too much knowledge or too much doctrine or caring too much about thinking. The problem is when knowledge of God becomes a vat instead of a vessel. Doctrinal knowledge is to the Christian life what blood is to the human body. If the blood flows through vessels, it literally gives life to the whole body. But if you just collected blood in a big bucket, some kind of grotesque vat, then you’ve got something unnatural going on. Blood isn’t meant to be stored in a vat. It is meant to flow through vessels of veins and arteries. Likewise, knowledge is not meant to be pooled in a giant theological noggin. Good doctrine and a robust understanding of God is meant to flow through us, producing fruit, leading to worship, making us more like Christ.
We need to find ways to stop pitting head Christians against heart Christians. We shouldn’t allow some churches to be “doctrine churches” and others to be some other kind of church. Every Christian must have knowledge and grow in knowledge. After all, as Peter reminds us, it’s how grace and peace will be multiplied to us. It’s how we receive power for life and godliness.
So we need not make any apologies for insisting that Christians and churches care about knowledge and grow in knowledge. Let’s just add a “so that” before someone else tries to put in a “but.”
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/04/06/knowledge-so-that/
In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear;
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career.
I saw one hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood;
Who fixed his languid eyes on me,
As near his cross I stood.
Sure, never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with his death,
Though not a word he spoke.
My conscience felt, and owned the guilt,
And plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins his blood had spilt,
And helped to nail him there.
Alas! I knew not what I did,
But now my tears are vain;
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the LORD have slain.
A second look he gave, which said,
“I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid,
I die, that thou may’st live.”
Thus, while his death my sin displays,
In all its blackest hue;
Such is the mystery of grace
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled;
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by him I killed.
By John Newton
True saving faith is not simply a matter of believing in Christ because you are afraid of going to hell; faith is not simply a matter of avoiding punishment where you do not have any desire to love and enjoy Christ. Rather, true saving faith means that you come to a deep, heartfelt conviction of how precious Christ is, and ‘account all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Philippians 3:8). You come to see Christ as all your salvation and happiness (Colossians 3:1).
True saving faith also means that you love every part of Christ’s salvation – holiness as well as forgiveness of sins. It means that you earnestly desire God to ‘create in you a clean heart and a right spirit’ as well as ‘hide his face from your sins’ (Psalm 51:9-10). Do not be like those who care nothing about Christ at all, except to be delivered from hell. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.’ (Matthew 5:6)
– Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, p. 51
(HT: Trinity Church Blog)
“A few days ago I called my eighty-five-year-old father and said, “Daddy, I am writing a book on how to fight for joy. What one thing comes to your mind from sixty years of ministry as to what Christians could do to increase their joy?” Almost without hesitation he said, “Share their faith.” Joy in Christ thrives on being shared. That is the essence of Christian joy: It overflows or dies.”
John Piper, from his book, When I Don’t Desire God (free download)
“Do you ever try to do good to others? If you do, remember to tell them about Christ. Tell the young, tell the poor, tell the aged, tell the ignorant, tell the sick, tell the dying – tell them all about Christ. Tell them of His power, and tell them of His love; tell them of His doings, and tell them of His feelings.
“Tell them what He has done for the chief of sinners; tell them what He is willing to do until the last day of time; tell it to them over and over again. Never be tired of speaking of Christ. Say to them broadly and fully, freely and unconditionally, unreservedly and undoubtingly, ‘Come unto Christ, as the penitent thief did; come unto Christ, and you shall be saved.’”
~ J.C. Ryle
God is not a supporting actor in our drama; it is the other way around. God does not exist to make sure that we are happy and fulfilled. Rather, we exist to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. God is not a facilitator of our ‘life transformation’ projects. He is not a life coach. Rather, he is our Creator, Lawgiver, Judge, and Covenant Lord. (Michael Horton, The Gospel Driven Life), p. 26
“Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father’s sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted in the beloved.”
Kevin DeYoung, in Why We Love the Church (pp. 87-88):
“But then again, consistency is not a postmodern virtue. And nowhere is this more aptly displayed than in the barrage of criticisms leveled against the church.
The church-is-lame crowd hates Constantine and notions of Christendom, but they want the church to be a patron of the arts, and run after-school programs, and bring the world together in peace and love.
They bemoan the over-programmed church, but then think of a hundred complex, resource-hungry things the church should be doing.
They don’t like the church because it is too hierarchical, but then hate it when it has poor leadership.
They wish the church could be more diverse, but then leave to meet in a coffee shop with other well-educated thirtysomethings who are into film festivals, NPR, and carbon offsets.
They want more of a family spirit, but too much family and they’ll complain that the church is ‘inbred.’
They want the church to know that its reputation with outsiders is terrible, but then are critical when the church is too concerned with appearances.
They chide the church for not doing more to address social problems, but then complain when the church gets too political.
They want church unity and decry all our denominations, but fail to see the irony in the fact that they have left to do their own thing because they can’t find a single church that can satisfy them.
They are critical of the lack of community in the church, but then want services that allow for individualized worship experiences.
They want leaders with vision, but don’t want anyone to tell them what to do or how to think.
They want a church where the people really know each other and care for each other, but then they complain the church today is an isolated country club, only interested in catering to its own members.
They want to be connected to history, but are sick of the same prayers and same style every week.
They call for not judging “the spiritual path of other believers who are dedicated to pleasing God and blessing people,” and then they blast the traditional church in the harshest, most unflattering terms.”
