Fire On Your Head

“The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble;
He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
The LORD is great in Zion,
And He is exalted above all the peoples.
Let them praise Your great and awesome name;
Holy is He.” -Ps. 99.1-3

How delightful and awe-striking that we should be invited to commune with the God who shook Sinai, and whose presence causes the heavens and the earth to tremble!

Psalm 99 sounds the note of a most happy contradiction, that God is utterly holy, that creation itself cannot bear His presence, but that He calls us to press in, not only to a slight experience of His presence, but into a living communion with Him. He wants us to be “among His priests,” and to “call on His name.” He will purge and purify the sin from our lives, and enable us to walk on the heights of worship and true praise. All of this catapults the Psalmist (and those who hear him rightly) into an outburst of joyous declaration, “The LORD reigns!” Are we being gripped and thrilled along with the Psalmist?

Hear Spurgeon:

Let the chosen people feel a solemn yet joyful awe, which shall thrill their whole manhood. Saints quiver with devout emotion, and sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and felt. It is not a light or trifling matter, it is a truth which, above all others, should stir the depths of our nature.

(The Treasury of David: Vol. 4, Charles Spurgeon: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1881, p. 385)

The Psalmist uses language that resurrects thoughts of the Sinai theophany (when the Lord actually appeared on the mount), but gloriously engages all the saints with a call to the same kind of worship that Moses himself experienced.

The portrayal of the divine epiphany exhibits the features of the Sinai theophany. When God appears in his majestic power a tremor runs through the whole world; the nations tremble and the earth quakes- an involuntary indication of the terrible and sublime power of the God of Mount Zion over the whole world. The poet discerns the holiness of his God in this pre-eminent and comprehensive power which causes everything that is created to tremble. And the involuntary witness which the trembling nations and the quaking earth bear in the presence of the holy God constrains the poet, too, to call upon all men to praise the holy name of God, the revelation of which had taken place in the course of the theophany and which is therefore present in the poet’s mind in all its greatness and terrifying power. Fear and trembling and respectful joy here jointly represent the spiritual atmostphere which is created in the congregation by the advent of God.

(The Psalms: The OT Library, by Artur Weiser; Westminster Press, 1962; pp. 641-642)

Whatever induced this burst of joyous praise and reverent worship in the psalmist, it brought to him the same sense of awe that he imagined to have been the experience of Moses and the ancient Israelites at Sinai. He was gripped with the fear of the Lord, gasping over the glory of God’s goodness, and he called out for the saints to tremble, praise, and worship. He was seized by a “fear and trembling and respectful joy” as his heart was jolted by the holiness and mercy of the Lord.

I think it’s fair to say that the common boredom, dullness of heart, moral compromises, addictions to entertainment, paralyzing depressions, and other ailments in the Body of Christ can all be attributed to the fact that we are not setting aside ample time to behold the God of Sinai, the God of the Psalmists, the God of the prophets and the apostles, the God of creation.

Oh, friends! He reigns! Clear the debris and clutter from your schedules. Plow through the blockades that keep you from the secret place. Shut off the computer if need be. Unplug the T.V. Take the phone off of the hook. Nothing else is more crucial than this: That we, as the people of God, would come into the vital revelation of the greatness of God in His holiness and love. Broken cisterns are easy to come by, but the fountain of Life can only be experienced when we forsake all the other diluted waters. God will meet you in the secret place, the reward will be beyond description, and your joy will be full. He waits for you, even now.

“Exalt the LORD our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For holy is the LORD our God.” (v. 9)

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mark 13:28-31 ESV)

We’ve been looking a lot in my articles lately about the kingdom of God, the Word of God specifically in the context and imagery of seed,  which is the Word of God (Luke 8:11).

In my studies and meditations on this concept of ’seed’, I was compelled to think even further on how seed–including sowing and reaping–works in the natural realm.  Even though fruit for example, is delicious, and different ones have different uses for our healthy diets, the primary purpose of the flesh on a fruit is not to add potassium or fiber to the human body, though that is obviously a good use for it.  But at the core of an apple, you find more seeds.  If the fruit were left on the branches of the tree, eventually the fruit falls to the ground, rots, and the seeds are sown into the ground.  Those seeds don’t give forth life or reproduce after their own kind until a death has taken place.  Only when the seed dies, and a rupture happens, leaving the seed to give forth life and take on a form it wasn’t previously, will a new plant emerge, and produce fruit again.  And in the next generation of fruit, will be contained therein the same DNA of the seed that was sown.  This cycle perpetuates itself indefinitely until or unless something stops it.  When nature is left to its course, the seed is never lost or destroyed despite the death and decay around it when the fruit falls to the ground off the branches and even if the tree itself rots or is intentionally destroyed by an outside source, the seed will remain.

Likewise, the Word of the Lord never perishes even though heaven and earth will pass away (Mark 13:31).  I was recently talking to a missionary friend of mine telling me how much he’s upset other missionaries and other established Christian ministries in the area he’s called to.  When he leads people in the baptism in the Holy Spirit, casts demons out of the oppressed, or heals the sick with the power of the seed implanted in him , other Christians get nervous and tell his disciples and followers to ‘be careful’.  We’ve had no problem passing on doctrines and dead works down through the ages of the Church, but those things are usually that which rots and decays–the flesh.  But he notes that whenever people need a miracle or a devil cast out of someone, they don’t hesitate to call on him.  The law kills but the Spirit gives life, therefore it’s this life we should be imparting.  Not the flesh that protects the seed, but the seed itself.  People will notice and be able to tell the difference.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

It is this living word that is intended to be passed on.   Genesis 1:11 mentions how the earth sprouts vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.  If the church can exist in certain areas of the world and all that’s being produced is dead works and dry religion, then it’s because that’s the seed that’s being sowed.  As a leader of mine in Holland says, we can’t give what we don’t have.  If the living breathing Word of God is not resident in us, it won’t come forth in others.  If we’re not seeing The Spirit move in others, it’s because He’s not moving in us either.  Simple as that.  Many theologians can write books, blogs, or just plain be armchair critics about what is the proper way to minister this or teach that.  But the fruit they are producing tells what they really sow.  We can all teach what we know and think, but we reproduce who we are. So who are you?  And what seeds are you sowing in others?  What fruit are you reproducing?

Don’t hinder others’ seeds from sprouting

A rut we believers tend to fall into when sowing the seed–the Word of God–into peoples’ lives, is to not let it do its own work.  I’m not against, nor am I contradicting the efforts made towards discipleship and helping other believers mature in Christ.  I’m not even against confrontation and rebuking where specific sin is present that the Bible admonishes us to deal with in both our lives and those of each other.  What I am talking about is digging up the seed to see if it’s doing anything under the surface or to see why progress we may be expecting hasn’t happened yet.  Sometimes when we lead new believers to Christ, we tell them all the things they now can’t do, but don’t teach them what they can do.  We start accountability structures and relationships that are fear-based and revolve around consequences if one messes up, because deep down we’re afraid the Holy Spirit really isn’t going to bring other people into maturity as well as we believe we could.  Of course we don’t admit it to ourselves or even believe that’s what we think.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55: 10-11)

God knows what He’s doing, and if we’ve been faithful in sowing the seed of His Word, we don’t need to add extra fleshly rules to that soil, of what we can and can’t do as believers.  Another friend of mine was just chatting with me on MSN and reminded me that there are fewer basic non-negotiables to the Gospel and the message of Christ in the believer that most of us like to admit.  However, we have made up lots of other stuff that boils down to personal convictions (personal preferences) that we’re not willing to die for in order to ‘be right’ but that’s another blog entry or podcast show altogether!  The Spirit of grace inside us, along with the implanted Word of Christ will bring forth the fruit if that’s what we’ve sown in them, and had sown and watered in us.  If the seed has the basic elements it needs to grow, then it will.

One time as a child, a buddy of mine and I were at our other friend’s house on a hot summer day to go swimming in his family’s above-ground swimming pool.  I can’t remember if we were 8 or 9 years old, but we somehow got the brilliant idea that we’d do this friend’s mom a favor and water her flowers in the backyard.  We didn’t realize that using the pool water was actually bad, as it contained chlorine and such chemicals designed to neutralize and kill certain bacteria to help keep the pool clean.  What was good and healthy for that pool’s usage, was NOT good and healthy for my friend’s mom’s garden plants and flowers.  In our immaturity, we had good and well meaning intentions, but it was a deadly idea, and his mom saw us out the window and came outside and stopped us and explained that though she saw the intention of our hearts, our effort would actually kill, and hinder any fruit from being produced.

Sometimes we do likewise when we try to water other peoples’ seeds using conditions and standards that aren’t applicable to every plant in the garden.  We actually spread death when we try spreading certain religious concepts onto each others’ lives from the outside, instead of letting the Holy Spirit within water the implanted Word of Christ.  We are only overcomers of the flesh (soul) when we are strong in our spirit.  We are just picking rotting fruit off the tree when we try fixing problems using fleshly/soulish and external solutions, rather than going to the root:

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ”Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”  referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:18-23)

Usually the self-made regulations we add in order to try watering that seed are of no use in actually doing the work we’re attempting to accomplish with it.  If we understand that flesh in Scripture doesn’t just specifically and only represent the more obvious and outrageous sin, but categorically those seemingly ‘good’ deeds, though noble, but not birthed of the Spirit, then we can chalk up good intentions and personal disciplines to that which leads to death like Paul talked about in Romans 8:

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (v. 7-8).

The solution is found in the two verses preceding it:

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

A lot of works of ministry and a lot of personal disciplines are just works of flesh, and not of the Spirit.  If you want to overcome the deeds of the flesh, then sow to your spirit and whatever you sow you will reap (Gal 6:7).  If all flesh is like grass and will fade away, then why use that fleshly grass to enhance our personal disciplines and water the seed with substance other than the Word which abides forever (1 Peter 1:24-25)?

When we eat a fruit, say an apple for example, the fruit’s flesh itself that we eat is useful for food, but itself is of no use toward reproducing more apples.  It protects the seeds found in the core, which are then used for reproducing more apples.  The human male body’s flesh substance itself won’t produce new life, but the seed inside him being protected by his body used in the reproduction process will.  Therefore if it’s so in the natural, why do we operate in the opposite fashion so often in the spiritual, and as Colossians 2 states, do things that in and of themselves are of no use in stopping the gratification of the flesh?

That being said, whether you’re a leader in the church or someone who edifies others in the Body of Christ, you will reap what you sow, and can only give what you have.  Let’s fan into flame the Spirit in the lives of one another, and not the deeds and not self-made religion, and other such things we think are of living water, but are actually loaded with poisonous chlorine and hinders growth and life.

Attached is a humorous video I found on YouTube of the effect I’ve seen some Christian ’sheep’ have on others in the Body of Christ that although not specifically related to this topic shared, I thought was amazingly accidentally profound in showing the same concept, for what is a skeleton mask representing other than that which is dead and lifeless?  Well, you get the lighthearted point.  I think like this sheep, we have the same effect on others in the flock of God when we are trying to spread our ‘dead’ works.

As I was trying to sleep I kept thinking about two topics: love, and church structure.   I wanted to write about what I understand the love of God to be–within the character of the believer; for we all know that God’s greatest definition of Love is that He made us for Himself and loved us so much that he sent Jesus here to earth to live and die an honoring life of sinless obedience to God and then pave the way to reconciling us with our Maker and Completer. The following could be looked at as an outline from Gods word about how the manifestation love is to have in us on top of the joys which come from knowing Christ :

In God’s word it says there are only four reasons to cut someone off from fellowship, these being:

“Sexual perversion, sexual Immorality, Godlessness, or that the relationship takes away from your faith in Christ as your savior.”

So the reason I write this is because over the last 3 years I have heard many preachings and doctrines about love.   But what I have heard is an exclusive explanation of love.   The requirements differ depending on the view point, but all have conditional love based on a set of social requirements; either intelligence, social grace, certain regulatory things–such as a way of devotion and expressing God–but limiting how that is done. I am not saying that these views are wrong, I just see them too much as falling into that rebuke Jesus made concerning loving only those who do good to you, which is what got me up in the middle of the night to write this. As I look through the word of God, I notice not only a guideline for exclusion of people based on the four above, but I also see a guideline for unconditional love spelled out for us plainly:

Love  “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”
“Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up”
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
The three quotes above are the KJV, NKJV and NIV versions of 1 Cor 13:4

Patient.  Gentle.  Kind.  Long suffering (patient endurance of pain or unhappiness, patiently bearing continual wrongs or trouble)
It goes on to say in the NIV:
“It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
The passage goes on to say that love never fails which I believe means that love is supposed to be so inclusive and unconditional and pure that the very nature and revelation of it never leaves someone lacking astonishment at its makeup, but not only this for it is this state of this character which is imperishable and of which heaven will be based, or as close to it as we can understand.

My point is this: if we are called to an inclusive love that does not create a distinction between the great and the weak but in which we have the great (understanding the nature of love) serving and building up the weak–and if this is the case and we are trying to build God’s church properly–then why do we posture like the world?   Is it the world making us feel that we have to have a cool front to be included or relevant, and if so should we really care?

I also wanted to add the verses Mathew 5:43 and Romans 12:9-21.  In these passages it etches more things that are done because of love.   They speak of equality within the dictates of love defined from 1 Cor 13:4 and relates almost as a command on how we should act towards people, and if we look at it as a whole picture it obviously speaks of a general well being with people.  This verse even instructs on how to avoid unnecessary conflict, and tells us guidelines just as the ones from 1 Cor 13:4 that should be used with all people and all brothers who do not fall outside of the guidelines listed at the top of the page.

I think the reason we fall short of this is self seeking, and self observation before Christ.  All people want to be on the “right” track and therefore compete against their siblings in Christ consciously or subconsciously, and this however leads to horrible judgments that only Christ should and can make. Judgment therefore is the finite tool I believe that draws us to make classes and form exclusive churches… for lets be honest with ourselves: a church which practices conditional love and has a class system–within a belief which is going to bring trouble to the newly born, as well as the aged–cannot sustain life, because it becomes a social system and is based of the popularity of the circle.   A lot of people in North America born into the church upon seeing these inconsistencies are going to revert back to their regular circles because the dynamic is not properly different and the popularity matrix of the group within the church system–no matter how fun–can’t compete with one where there is no condemnation from the world.  Even worse so if the church body the person is being born into bares condemnation for things that are based on conditional standards.

At another point in Scripture, there is a verse that says something along the lines of “I would rather be harmed and cheated then do wrong to another and cheat someone else”. I think we need to take the advice of Romans 12:16 and not be conceited for conceit is not just “Oh I am so much better than you”, but it can also be “Oh well I am more right than you, I am more this, my time is more valuable, if you are not this type then I cannot fellowship with you”.

This edged it’s way into my mind, because like a lot of the verses I pointed out in my note, or in others where it states we are to love our enemies, I think about how great a love we are called to.   For while men like the apostles (assumption here) and like the Martyr Stephen, when they were being pelted by rocks for their faith still had the compassion to not be offended and yet loved those who pelted them, those who rejected everything they believed in and wanted nothing more but to tear him(them) apart and end him, not believing he would pop up in resurrection life but excluding him from what they believed was the only life…

And what did he do (and Jesus for that matter)?  His heart was torn for them and yet still he loved them. I must admit this for years has sifted the perishing part of me, and called me to re-evaluate my heart whenever I think on it.

I will soon write on church structure and tithing, but I would encourage everyone who reads this to make the burdens of love light.  Not that you have to be everyone’s best friend, but a general good will and inclusive spirit into righteous things is a good thing I think.  To each his own though.

What does that statement really mean? I hear it used a lot. Maybe you don’t. But I sure do. I don’t know if I will post this in two parts or just one post, depending on if I can be concise enough or if it merits exploring further in a few days.

Have you ever noticed the glaring difference between Paul who said this in the New Testament, compared to those of us who say this about ourselves today?

I’ll give you a hint right away as to where I’m going with this: We misquote Paul all the time to justify our carnal lifestyles, whereas Paul said he becomes all things to all men, through self-DENIAL of things, as a means to not be a stumbling block to others.

I’m all about being relevant (another overused Christian catchphraze losing its relevance the more it’s used), but I think the manner in which many ministries and individuals are doing it is nothing short of glorifying carnality in order to not come across as out of touch and too traditional to the culture around us. But in the process of achieving our society’s acceptance of us as a movement or force, have we in fact lost our relevance? I think so, but only in many cases.

I hear people tell me things, in justification of places they go, activities they participate in, things they watch, stuff they listen to, and things they drink–and they often quote this passage (maybe not even knowing the book or the author who said it). And for some reason, I couldn’t really figure out why it hardly ever jives with me.

Let’s take a look at a chapter of Scripture and I can tell why (I hear some of you moaning that I’d post that much, but hey, if you’re a Christian, you should LOVE the Word of God). First Corinthians 9:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?
In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

OK, I won’t make this exhausting, but notice some things (such as CONTEXT).

• Paul talks of freedoms he has because of freedom in Christ and from being an apostle, but he doesn’t use these freedoms. (v. 1, 4-6,11-12, 15)
• Paul doesn’t want to be an obstacle for anyone else’s salvation or faith in Christ (v.12)
• Paul has made himself a servant (certain translations say slave) in order to be relevant to others. (v.19)
• The context of this passage, especially as detailed toward the end of chapter 9, is one of self-discipline and refrain, not one of endulging and engaging [in freedoms]

There are places where Paul talks of things like how there’s nothing wrong with doing certain things, but if they would offend others who knew of him partaking in such, he would never do it again if it caused someone to stumble (eating meat for example, Romans 14:20-22). A modern example we could use is alcohol–a grey area where some abstain, and others find nothing wrong. I will not reveal my side of the issue here, but I will say I usually am disapointed with the arguments those in favor use, and the defense people use when confronted or someone indicates they’re uncomfortable with the idea Christians drink. In fact, I hear the “it’s my freedom” card all the time, but can you imagine Paul–who talked of his freedoms–arguing with a weak believer why he won’t give something up even though there’s “nothing Scripturally wrong with it?”

When Paul writes he’d rather die than cause another to stumble, I think it leaves little argument as to what he thinks of that attitude. Yet many Christians would label you legalistic or judgmental if you even suggest some “grey area” offends them. In fact, the “all things to all men” stuff, Paul is usually giving up and abstaining from things, not indulging in them, in order to be relevant and not a stumbling block to others. We’ve got it backwards?

I hear people say to me all the time (just so you know, I hardly ever ask or suggest not going, but other people bring it up more than I do)–that going clubbing with unsaved co-workers or school-mates is “the only way to reach them or share something in common with them and that’s how you’ll share the Gospel”. Too funny, and too lame. For one thing, if you want to go clubbing, do so, but don’t pretend it’s for spiritual reasons. When I hear this, I always ask the person if they can introduce to me someone they’ve led to Jesus from going and getting hammered with them. I’m not bluffing either–nor do I ask it to be difficult or holier than though, but I’ve never been introduced to any “bar hopping ministry” converts.

In a tragic example of how come this doesn’t work, and that it’s always easier to get sucked into sin than it is to rescue people out of it, I remember before going to FIRE years ago, a deeply passionate and intense brother in the Lord started going to parties and bars as a witness to a sport team he was on–which going to a bar in and of itself I’m not against–like setting foot in a pub is not a sin, and I don’t crap my pants when I hear of men of God going out for a drink with their friend or shooting pool, but I hardly believe social dancing really ever benefits many with the Gospel. Just my humble opinion after a few years of observing–for the simple reason that believers need the same dope from the world in order to unwind, then we show we really aren’t satisfied with what we’ve got, so why should they want our Gospel?

Anyway, there’s this particular night club in Peterborough, known for having a booth on stage where a random guy and girl enter it together, and are given something like 30 seconds to disrobe on the inside of it, and trade as much clothing as possible, and whatever stage of dress or undress they are in, they come out of the booth before the audience. This bar’s trademark contest was common knowlege to me since I worked across the street at a Subway franchise for almost a year, but what was not common knowledge–or expected was when someone sent me a web link showing me that the particular brother I mentioned a moment was one of the people who participated in that the week earlier and won the contest they have! Yikes.

For some reason seeing him in his boxer shorts with a girl topless with blurry lines covering her upper body doesn’t strike me as what the apostle Paul had in mind when “becoming all things to all men”.

Friends, let’s get real and not twist Scripture to fullfill the lusts of our flesh, but give them up and live above board on every matter, even grey areas. I don’t mind tattoos and piercings on believers, or styles of MODEST clothing that resemble current trends and styles, but I think I’d rather wear a suit and tie to reach the lost more than pierce myself in eighteen different places to become “relevant” to a certain peer group. Much of the reasons we come up with for doing certain things is usually to defend the fact we WANT to do certain things, and hardly ever to reach anyone or anything.

Isn’t that the truth? Be honest now.

(Is not some guy’s name)

Jesus commanded men to judge rightly and He told them to “judge not.”

Did the Lord contradict Himself? Or does the Bible say more about judging than the general public realizes?

Jesus repeatedly taught men to judge rightly, insisting they “judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24) and He praised a man who “rightly judged” (Luke 7:43). Paul shamed the Corinthian Christians because no one among them was willing to “judge the smallest matters” (1 Cor. 6:2). As the Apostle wrote, “He who is spiritual judges all things” for “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:15‑16).

Where did we get the notion that men should never judge? Should child-molesters escape condemnation? Should rapists be free from criticism? Should society refrain from judging those arrested for murder? And why would anyone judge others for judging?

Borrowing characters from C. S. Lewis, imagine this dialogue between a junior demon named Wormwood and his wicked uncle Screwtape. This fiendish exchange could have occurred a century ago:

Wormwood: Believers have so many weapons at their disposal. It is difficult to neutralize them. It takes a huge effort just to slow the work of a single Christian.
Screwtape: Your one-on-one approach is inefficient. This is the age of Madison Avenue and mass marketing. If you can undermine their whole group at once, then you’ve accomplished something.
Wormwood: Unfortunately, I’m not highly productive. In the time it takes me to frustrate one believer, I could tempt a dozen heathens.
Screwtape: Don’t lose heart, Wormwood. We are imple­menting a plan to impair the whole Church with a single ploy.
Wormwood: I don’t see how that will be possible. I see Christians dedicated to warning others about hell. It’s all I can do just to get one of them distracted for a short time.
Screwtape: We are going to use their Leader’s own words.
Wormwood: No! Please don’t. Don’t even joke about using His words. I can’t take it.
Screwtape: If you’re ever going to grow up to be an effec­tive demon, you’re going to have to learn to use the Enemy’s words against Him.
Wormwood: It just seems so dangerous. Which words are you going to use?
Screwtape: “Judge not!”
Wormwood: I don’t understand why He would tell them not to judge. That’s confusing. He commanded His followers to rebuke, admonish, and judge hundreds of times in His Book. And that’s what they’re out there doing. And I might add, it’s causing me grief.
Screwtape: When their Leader said those words, He was speaking to hypocrites. “Judge not… you hypocrite,” as He said later in the same paragraph.
Wormwood: Yeah, but how are we going to use “Judge not” to neutralize the whole Church?
Screwtape: We’re going to get them to ignore the fact that He was talking to hypocrites. He said that hypocrites should not judge, at least not until they stop doing the wrong deed themselves. But we’re going to make them think none of them should judge, ever.
Wormwood: That’s bril­liant… if you can pull it off, that is. I mean, if we can get them to stop judging, then they won’t rebuke the wicked. And they won’t be able to admonish those who are sexually immoral.
Screwtape: It is even more brilliant than you realize. If we can seduce Christians into fol­lowing the instructions for hypo­crites, we will turn them into hypocrites. It’s like government workers who follow foolish rules so precisely they are transformed from human beings into bureau­crats; drones who mindlessly dis­pense red tape regardless of the misfortune they cause. The slave who willingly obeys his master, begins to conform to the master. If believers willingly submit to an instruction for hypocrites, they will conform to hypocrisy. Eventually, with a little evil luck, we might stop them from con­fronting unbelievers altogether because, as you know Worm­wood, to confront requires judg­ing. And if they don’t judge un­believers, they are hypocrites, professing the Gospel but deny­ing its power.
Wormwood: Ha, ha. I’m excited. When do we start?
Screwtape: Everything is underway already. Just do your part.
Wormwood: And that is…?
Screwtape: Make sure your targets read as little of the Book as possible. Don’t get too wor­ried if they stick to their favorite twenty cliché verses. But make sure they remain ignorant of most of the Word.
Wormwood: Master, you are brilliant.
Screwtape: You can call me Master if you want, but don’t let the boss hear you.

A lie paralyzed the Church. God warns against “hypocrisy” commanding men to “abhor what is evil” (Rom. 12:9). Yet to abhor evil, someone must first judge evil. Thus, unable to judge, large numbers of Christians become hypocrites by obeying the Hypocrites Golden Rule. Since the hypocrite doesn’t want to be judged, he judges not, as Jesus said, “Judge not… you hypocrite” (Mat. 7:1, 5 KJV; Ezek. 16:52). For “judge not” (Mat. 7:1-5) is simply a hypocrites application of do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Mat. 7:12). “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged” (Mat. 7:2). Judge others as you would have them do unto you inverted is Judge not if you do not want to be judged.

Christ repeated this theme in His ministry. “Hypocrites,” Jesus said, “why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?” (Luke 12:56‑57). Still, His own followers have mostly ignored the Lord’s harsh rebuke: “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to [judge, i.e., to] remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Mat. 7:5). “Judge Not” is the Hypocritical Oath.

“Judge Not” is a hypocrite haven. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones. Such Christians should relocate. They should move into “the temple of the great God… being built with heavy stones” (Ezra 5:8).

Christians live in the “building” for which Christ is “the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). And if that Stone falls on someone it “will grind him to powder” (Mat. 21:44; Luke 20:18; cf. Ex. 32:20). Better to be judged by a Christian than crushed by Christ.

Hollywood, Hillary, and Homosexuals repeat the phrase like a mantra, judge not, judge not, judge not, until the masses are mesmerized. Jesus did not intend this.

Scripture deals with topics that range from simple to advanced truth. Milk is for babes in Christ; meat is for men of God. The question of whether or not Christians should judge is milk. It is preschool. The newest believer taught any of a hundred passages would immediately understand that he must judge. Judging others is fundamental. It is not a difficult concept and should in no way be controversial.

“Everyone who partakes only in milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Heb. 5:13). The Church, today lactose intolerant, has trouble even with milk.

Extreme ignorance of the Bible has crippled the Church. And that paralysis slows every denomination by hurting local fellowships. What is the percentage of Christians who have succumbed to the “Judge not” deception? Is there even one percent of believers who have not fallen for that diversion? A quarter century of observation suggests to this author that probably 99 out of 100 believers misquote Jesus by repeating the “Judge not” mantra. Believers need to turn from this sin and ask God for wisdom to keep from being so easily deceived again.

“Curse God and die!” Is that good advice? Word for word, it is in the Bible. Job’s wife counsels her husband to “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Many verses, if ripped out of context, can ruin lives. Judas “went and hanged himself” (Mat. 27:5) and as Jesus said “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). The believer who lacks a hunger for God’s word is susceptible to the most absurd dangers.

An October 1996 letter in the Rocky Mountain News expressed a typical judge-not sentiment. It advocated incarceration and not the execution of murderers, who are made “in the image of God” as it would be “wrong to put the image of God to death.” However, the writer never addressed the incongruity of putting the image of God in jail.

“Judge not” is the prayer of those who want to hide light under a basket. The cliché describes salt, which has lost its flavor, which no longer seasons or preserves. This seductive lie takes its victims out of ministry. As spectators on the sidelines, they only watch the spiritual battle. But they are in a comfort zone. Apathy is the craving. “Judge not” is the shirking of responsibility.

To the Jews God said, “If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house” (Zech. 3:7). Are members of the Body of Christ today less capable than Israel whom God commanded to “judge righteously” (Deut. 1:16‑17; Lev. 19:15)? Moses appointed the head of one out of every ten households as a judge (Ex. 18:25; Deut. 1:15). Should Christians toss out the entire book of Judges? Should America eliminate all judges, or should just the Christian judges resign? Should believers ignore Paul’s admonition:

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?” (1 Cor. 6:2‑5).

Notice that Christians “will judge the world!” (1 Cor. 6:2). For Paul said, “if the world will be judged by you…” God the Judge delegates judgment to His people. Even spirit beings will submit to believers: “Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” Then and now, believers should “judge… according to My judgments” (Ezek. 44:24) as God said. The Almighty commits judgment into the hands of His obedient servants (Rev. 20:4).

If God were the only judge, the sins of all men would be “clearly evident, preceding them to judgment” (1Tim. 5:24a). But because human beings will judge their fellow men on Judgment Day, therefore the sins “of some men follow later” (1Tim. 5:24b). The human judges will already have been aware of the sins of notorious men. But they will not learn of the sins of obscure men until they are revealed at Judgment Day. Also, these human judges will then become aware of the sins of leaders, celebrities, and even family members who had carefully concealed their wickedness.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, may have known of this. For he said “the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all” (Jude 14‑15). The Lord with His saints will judge the world!

Jesus too said, “The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it…” (Matt. 12:41). And as Solomon wrote, “jealousy is a husband’s fury; therefore, he will not spare [the adulterer who violated his wife] in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense nor will he be appeased” (Prov. 6:34‑35). God gives the responsibility for vengeance, condemnation, and judgment to His servants for “every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord” (Isa. 54:17).

Today, many believers are effectively saying, “Lord, thanks but no thanks. I’ll pass on that judgment duty.” But Paul responds, Start judging now, because you will need the practice (1Cor. 6:2‑5). Remember, “He who is spiritual judges all things. For… we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:15‑16). And God will reward those who judge, and do the hard work: “Those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.” (Prov. 24:25).

Would slain Columbine high school student Danny Rohrbough be forgiving or judgmental toward his unrepentant murderers? A People Magazine photo in Nov. 1999 shows his family and friends answering that question. They quote Rev. 6:10 in which martyred Christians in heaven ask God to “avenge our blood.” Judge-not Christians condemn the martyr’s call for vengeance, but never the murderer.

Hopefully the Church will see Judge Not headed for retirement replaced with Judge Rightly. For as Jesus said, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

Bob Enyart
Pastor, Denver Bible Church
PO Box 583
Arvada CO 80001

In keeping up with Biblical analogies related to my most recent workplace, I couldn’t help but post this entry after learning something fascinating a little while ago. I hope I don’t make any of you feel I’m “beating the sheep” either, but this post is necessary, and I’m not one to tickle ears anyway.

At my last temp assignment, in a plastic mold injection factory, I noticed that there’s this material that gets used frequently, consisting of a type of plastic resin that is totally white, with only a few black pellets scattered throughout it. Yet, despite the high volume of white in this material, when it goes through the injection and into the mold, the parts come out completely black. My sensibilities would assume with this much white, and that little black, that it would come out a light grey color as a result of getting mixed together.

I asked someone who would know better than I about how this works and why it comes out completely black. He asked me if I ever made Jello before. I was familiar with Jello so he compared this process with that of mixing that powder with hot water, and how it looks really white as a powder, with a small amount of colored powder throughout it, but when it mixes together in the water it forms a much darker color than you’d expect from looking at its original properties. Well the same was true with the plastic pellets; the black ones have a high concentration of the pigment or whatever it is in them. Therefore, all it takes is this small number of pellets for every large amount of white pellets, because when diluted with the white, it will make the whole box turn out black.

Fascinating huh?

I honestly see that the same way as the writer of Ecclesiastes said “Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” (Ecc 10:1) It doesn’t take much to ruin the perfectly wonderful smelling aroma of that stuff, so to speak.

We are to live pure and holy lives as followers of Jesus Christ. But yet countless men and women of God have lost everything–their jobs, careers, lifestyles, families, houses, all from just a few acts of indiscretion, or maybe even just one. Whether it be infidelity, embezzlement, some kind of blatant public hypocrisy–whatever the case may be, even if their ‘track record’ was pure, all it took was one or a brief amount of mistakes, and everything is gone. I know I don’t judge them in my heart, but there are people in my life of whom its been years since they’ve “messed up” (I’m being vague and general), and they have been restored, and are in right standing in their Christian fellowships and in their relationship with God in the years since, but they still are dealing with the consequences of actions of theirs. Pure and right before a Holy God through repentance and the grace of Jesus Christ, they are totally pure in His eyes, yet in this lifetime, the repercussions had lasting effects.

We could look at high profile ministries, such as the ones during the 1980s. Those men were used powerfully and mightily of the Lord, but sin cost them a high price, and even though both of them are fully repentant now and restored in their relationships and walks with God, their ministries are nothing like they used to be. Friends, let us not be people who think anything is a trivial or small thing in our lives.

“Oh Steve, don’t be so legalistic–there’s not THAT much nudity in that movie.” But would you watch if right now in the room you’re in a man and a woman began to do in front of you what those actors did in front of the video camera, and shown on that movie screen or TV set? What’s the difference?

“Steve, you’re so judgmental, of course I’d never do in real life those things I do in that video game–it’s just a video game, it’s all make believe.” What did God mean with the commandment “thou shalt not kill”–was that only relegated to ‘reality’?

“Steve, to the pure all things are pure–the Bible says so somewhere–there’s nothing wrong with listening to this type of music, even if it is horribly antichrist and they cuss like crazy–they’re just being real.” That may be, but why would anyone want to pour crap into their spirits willingly, “real” or not?

Friends, let us not be the type who, through little bits of compromise here and there, opened the door gradually over time and eventually find ourselves treading down slippery slopes we discover ourselves powerless to overcome. If you think you can spend a lot of time alone with your boyfriend or girlfriend and that no temptation will overcome you, be very careful to make wise decisions that render you free from situations where you would have to decide on what to do in the midst of those temptations.

Forgive the crass analogy, but how many of you would dare drink a glass of water or juice, whose contents were 99% pure, but there was just a tiny drop of urine in it? Knowing fully well that a tiny amount of impurity was in it would propel you away from it! Yet, many believers are content with this type of barometer in their own spiritual lives, thinking a “little” ungodly entertainment or unholy activity “won’t hurt anyone“–but it hurts the Lord, and even ourselves many times, or our credibility in a dying world’s eyes who are watching us closely.
Friends, your soul will adapt to whatever you expose it to–what are you exposing it to?

“God knows my heart, you say, but ah yes! Do you know the Lord’s heart–what grieves Him and what pleases Him? All it takes is a little bit to ruin the whole. Don’t let your life be a casualty in some way, no matter how trivial the issue may seem to you now.

And lest you read this far and feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit or the finger of God on an area of your life, remember and know there is mercy and forgiveness. The same analogy I used at the beginning can be applied to the reverse– “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18) As if nothing ever happened–but that involves the humility to go to Him and admit you need Him–there is only forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

This is repentance.

Be encouraged.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

At the place I currently work, new molds are set up on a regular basis in any of the dozen or so machines throughout the plant. When the material is being fed through the injection process and into the mold itself to see how the parts will run, we will always have a bunch of scrap parts in the first several cycles. These scrap parts could have too much material, resulting in wings and extra “flash” on the edges. Or they could have holes in the part where the liquid plastic didn’t quite fill out the mold, resulting in it being short on material. Or maybe markings that shouldn’t be there from some of the dry pellets that didn’t quite melt and created a ‘cold slug’ in the part that is visible, making it no good.

Once the job is finally running according to plan, the supervisor on that shift–as well as maybe some of the quality inspectors–depending on the shift and who is around–one of them will approve of the part, which is referred to as a “first-off“. Once the mold is running smoothly and has produced a perfect or satisfactory part, the supervisor will take it, and put a sticker with their signature and date on it, signifying they are giving it their personal approval. It will then be put it in a plastic bag and left at the work station of the machine it was produced from, so that as that job runs, if a questionable part comes out of the machine, it can be compared with the first-off to determine if it is acceptable or not. If a job runs for several days or weeks, the employee can have the sample part to see what is acceptable.

When I find a marking or a little bit of excess plastic forming on an edge or in a hole, then I’ll look to see if the first-off has the same blemishes on it. If it does, then I know the parts I’m getting from the mold are acceptable. If the first-off has less, then that means there’s too much blemish or too many defects with my parts, and what I’m getting are scraps, and the machine may need to be adjusted.

Oh how this has amazing parallels to our relationship to Jesus Christ, who in many ways is our “first-off”.

I tell unbelievers and those with a real aversion to Christianity and the church in general all the time–go according to Jesus Christ Himself to get an idea of what true Christianity is supposed to be, not the hypocrisy, or blotches in our history that bring shame to the body of Christ worldwide. There are plenty of scraps all over the body of Christ, and the point is not to let them be a distraction to us and those honestly and sincerely seeking Him.. If we want to know if someone is like Jesus, they will be like Jesus. Pure and simple. Compare the person’s life to that of Jesus’–who said things like We must be perfect as our heavenly Father is (Matt 5:48). As Tommy Tenney says, “Godly people are godly people or else they’re not godly.”

As for hypocrisy, in a perfect world–or heck, according to the Bible–we have a blueprint for what the life of a believer is supposed to be like. In short, Christians are supposed to be like Jesus Christ.

Sounds simple enough right? Really, there is no excuse for some behavior of believers.

Please forgive my using another separate work-related example, but I remember when I worked at Subway over 5 years ago, and was filling the slot created by a guy who quit. This employee quit so he could go to college out of town, and had left on significantly bad terms. He used to be the drummer for a well known Christian band in town at the time, that almost got a record deal but had basically parted ways to pursue other goals. Well anyway, on busy bar nights–Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays– a second employee would be scheduled to come in from midnight until 3 am when the store closed, to help with the busy crowd that would be created by the bars downtown all closing at 2am and people seeking something to eat afterwards. This particular ‘brother’ was known for coming in for those shifts after going out clubbing, and being drunk on the job. So drunk that he passed out one at work. When he quit, he burned his bridges so badly, that the employer who hired me was making special effort to make sure I wouldn’t do the same things he did on his last shift, when I quit–such as leaving the store without doing any of the chores required (violating numerous health codes, I would assume). I had to live down the bad taste someone else had left in their mouths.

It was pretty pathetic, since I knew this brother was a professing believer. One of the employees who worked with him was telling me this stuff and I immediately said “he’s a hypocrite then” (I used to be blunt back then, which is a far cry from how I am now, I know). This co-worker I was speaking with thought I was being judgmental of the guy I replaced, and had a mistaken belief that all Christianity was about was mental beliefs and church attendance but not practical difference in lifestyle, which I more than happily explained to him using whatever I could off the top of my head in that moment from the Bible, to say things such as “you will know a tree by its fruit” (Matt 12:33), or the world will know we are Jesus’ disciples by our love (John 13:35).

Friends, do our lives match the life of our first-off, Jesus? Are we known for being gossips? Are we backbiters and divided? One time recently, someone I met in a birthday party or a similar type of setting began telling me this guy in her class in college–who I knew of personally–she didn’t have any clue he was a Christian because of how much he cusses, and she thought believers don’t do that (so did I!). Do the people around us find themselves shocked if someone told them we are a believer in Christ? If so, what kind of lousy example of Jesus is that?

I speak to myself as I always am when issuing challenges like this in my blog entries, but friends, I am tired of pathetic testimony after pathetic testimony I hear of friends of mine and acquaintances. I don’t want it to be said of me–or if it’s said, I don’t want it to be true of me–that I’m a hypocrite or that I have no business bearing the name of Christ.

Don’t get me wrong. There will be people in our lives who are unreasonable and nothing we do will ever satisfy them. And also don’t think I’m saying that being immature in the faith is the same thing as being a hypocrite. Peter denied Jesus, yes, but picked himself back up. Judas didn’t. There’s a difference between tripping and falling while walking on your way to the cross, as opposed to not going that direction at all.

Anyway, let’s be all we are supposed to be, and they will know we are like our first-off, and approved of by our Father in heaven.

I really enjoy working where I have been for the last 4 months. Seriously. Not just because I can blare my radio and listen to preaching mp3s or whatever music I want on my boom box without affecting anyone else at their work stations–but because I see and learn new things every day about how things are made that I never would have given the thought or knew was made by a mold press. Especially about the character of God. You’d be surprised.

Scripture talks of how the Lord is a potter, and we are His clay and in His hands he forms us into His desired masterpiece. We are all His workmanship.

I work as a temporary employee in a molding factory. And this place reminds me of when we played with Play-doh as children; that we’d close a plastic contraption with the plasticine in it, and it would come out the desired shape.

How fitting of an analogy this work environment is to the dealings of God in our lives and our growth.

You see, no two plastic products that get made require the same amount of plastic material to make the finished product. Nor do any require being heated in the mold for the same amount of time. Or have the same dimensions in the mould itself. Nor do they all come out the same sizes, or colors even.

For those of you who can’t get a mental image, let me try describing it to you:

The machines there all have a hose or some kind of hopper that the feed (plastic pellets) are fed into. They then are melted at a high temperature into a liquid form and passed through the machine through an opening that pours it all out into the mold, and then is cooled down while in the mold itself, to be shaped by a lot of pressure and weight into the solid form it will take on permanently. When the mold opens, the part is ready, and the operator (employee) opens the door/gate, and removes it and does anything extra that needs to be done to the part while it cools down or maybe is put directly into a box to be sent eventually to the customer.

If for example, the part will have the company’s name on the part, then the mold in the machine would have the name backwards and inside out on it, so that in the mold as the liquid plastic is cooled down into a solid form, the letters would be pressed into the part to create its opposite image. Everything on the mold is the opposite of how it will show up on the part itself, of course.

So at all times, most of these machines need human involvment, to open the door, remove the part from the mold or catch it when it would fall off at the end of its cycle, and then in most cases, you need to either cut off excess plastic around edges or things, or sand rough edges and surfaces down, or maybe sometimes even just leave them on the table as is, and cool down before they’re ready to be boxed.

I constantly think of how God’s dealings with us must be almost exactly the same, and see the parallels in such biblical imagery as Him being the potter and we’re clay in His hands.

God’s dealings in our life may make us feel like we’re being closed in on, and put all sorts of pressure on usand use all sorts of heat to burn away any impurities that aren’t desired in His finished product. And then once the heat has cooled down He pulls out a knife and cuts off any excess in our character or of our fleshly nature that needs to be disposed of. But more importantly how I am made to realize how no two people are designed alike in His sight and how we’re all going to go through our own tailor-made situations and experiences to mold us and form us into what He wants us to turn out like.

It may make no sense to you now as you are going through whatever you are going through, but trust me, the Master and Potter knows how He wants you to be and turn out, and only has your best interests in mind while dealing with you the way He is. As Dr. Michael Brown says, everything in the kingdom of God goes under the knife–either to cut back or cut off. The tree that bears no fruit gets cut down, while the tree that bears good fruit gets pruned.

I can see God even in a factory job.