Approval and Pride

Seeking man’s approval and being unduely proud if I get it are ongoing struggles of mine. I am well aware these things are wrong, but have recently realised their foolishness - thanks largely to Don Carson's exploration of 1 Corinthians 1-4 in The Cross and Christian Ministry (2004).

“[T]he message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). It is his power and his wisdom (1:24b). The world’s wisdom is not merely less than God’s wisdom – it is so far removed that God calls it “foolish”, just as the world calls true wisdom “foolish”. The most talented people of this world do not with their intelligence discover “God’s secret wisdom” - Jesus Christ - and when they are presented with him they scoff (2:7a & 1:20-21). The people who discover Jesus are the people who recognise their needy state. These lowly people discover Jesus when he calls them (1:26) - “so that no one may boast before him” (1:29).

The message of the cross eclipses the world’s wisdom in its wisdom and in its eternity. “God destined [it] for our glory before time began”, wheras even the rulers of this age “are coming to nothing” (2:7b & 2:6b).

Christians have been blessed with the Spirit, enabling us to see the cross for what it is. The Spirit gives us discernment of all things (2:15), so that we are no longer seduced and blinded by human wisdom.

So we should no longer be proud of our stock of worldly wisdom, for it is foolishness. Our talents can however be viewed and appreciated and used with God's wisdom. Yet even then we should not boast in ourselves - for “[w]hat do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (4:7) And it is foolish to compete with each other when we are to use our God-given talents for “one purpose”, as “God’s fellow workers” (3:8-9). It is also foolish because we forget ourselves, we forget that we are no more than sinners who God chose to save. And it is foolish when we do have great glories and wisdom we should boast of - “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (3:21b-23). We are no longer bound to this world; this brief life is not all we have; death is vanquished; and the present and future are all governed by and lived under our Lord.

“If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a ‘fool’ so that he may become wise . . . . So then, no more boasting about men!” (3:18 & 21a). We should instead imitate Paul as he follows the example of Christ (11:1) in living out the ‘foolish’ cross – “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.” (4:11-13). Very foolish, yet truly wise. I pray I will feel ashamed of my foolish pride and instead boast in and follow my Lord!

How I Know my Religion has the Answers

Because Jesus says it does; he says he does.

Because as well as being God, Jesus was a man, and his place and actions in history can be proved or disproved. We can check his claims and his trustworthiness.

Because when I read the Bible it all adds up – life as I know it, in its goodness and awfulness. It is described and explained and my questions are answered.

Because when I read the Bible my heart is convinced as well as my head.

Because once I believe, I feel God’s nearness and I see his work in my character and in my life.

Appreciating Jesus

For a while now I’ve been concerned that Jesus is too complex and strange for me to be able to understand very well. I’ve been concerned that in not understanding him, I have failed to appreciate, love and worship him as I should.

That was until a comment from an old friend made me realise how differently we both see my life. I think she sees my Christian life these last three years as just another thing, wheras I divide my adult life into ‘before’ and ‘after’ I became a Christian. So I got to wondering why.

As a child I was a Christian, and during the adult ‘before’ years I kept my general belief in God. I ‘merely’ forgot his fullness and forgot his Son. In the before years I was something like an Old Testament Jew. I knew there was a God and I knew what he expected of me. But I could never live up to his standard nor did I really want to, and he was never close to me, sinner that I was.

The difference between the before and after years is Jesus Christ, God’s Son. His life, death and resurrection is not just a truth that I hold – it is a truth that has transformed my life. For his glory and out of his love Jesus changed my life.

Because of Jesus I not only know that God exists, but I have a relationship with him. I am able to know him better each day.

Because of Jesus I am forgiven and made ready to follow his example of glad obedience to the Father.

Jesus has given me new life, showered me with every blessing and is the God I want to thank and follow and know as best I can in this life and better in the next!

The Eighties

I was born three years before the eighties began and was thirteen at their end. At the time the eighties was all there had ever been, but now I can see their special character.

There was an earthiness to the eighties – all those everyday tracksuits. We were comfortable being Aussies in the summer sun.

We were confident of the future. We felt like we could be anything when we grew up.

The eighties had a wildness. Not a random, purposeless wildness, but a wild narrative. We grew up recognising wildness and expecting some fluidity and unpredictability in life. We grew up conversant with narrative.

Then the grungy nineties changed our focus from the fun and mad to the bad. We acknowledged suffering and despair but we stayed defiant and made it through. And now we’ve arrived at the noughties – where we have embraced the dubious honour of creating our own meaning. So far it’s a happy, worldly-wise, humanist place.

Taboos

I’ve found myself chickening out of saying some things lately, so I got to wondering why those things in particular . . .

I chickened out of talking about God or Satans’ active involvement in my life. I think I did this because I might be wrong, because I feel like I’m making too much of myself and because I feel I’m being an overspiritual crackpot. But I don’t think these things were actually true. I was worrying more about my image than about the truth.

I’ve also chickened out of talking about feelings of low self-worth. I did this because to be open would lower my status and would make me vulnerable to insensitive reply. But it’s more helpful to admit to not having it all together, than to keep up a false façade.

Unnecessary self-censorship can give an unbalanced, over-predictable, over-rosy view of life. We should speak of the mystery and splendour and weakness and struggle we encounter in this world.

What it is to Lead a Church

Soft and grim and wise to chose between them.