Nurturing Spiritual Growth and Holiness – Part 1

Posted by Chris on November 14, 2004 under Sermons

The portrait of a nation in crisis. The people have lost their way. The law and the courts are no longer concerned with justice and righteousness. Rather, everything is settled in terms of money. Its people are consumed with wealth and they will use every means legal and illegal to acquire more. Call it greed or call it stealing, it works the same. Ethics and morals are no longer based on what is right and wrong, but they are defined in terms of financial loss and gain. What is profitable is of greater value than what is true. This is the portrait of a nation in crisis.

Honesty is something rare or laughed at. Most people agree that honesty makes you vulnerable. Military leaders and politicians are using their own people for nothing more than financial profit. Greed and dishonesty are considered necessary in business so much so that no one trusts anyone. This is the portrait of a nation in crisis.

The Situation on First Century Crete
It would be easy to assume that this portrait of a nation is our USA, but I am in fact talking about civilization on the island of Crete over 2000 years ago – in the middle of the first century A.D. But the similarities are stunning! Perhaps this will help us learn how the people of God are supposed to thrive in a nation in crisis.

In the rest of the world regarded Cretans as reprobates, dishonest, and uncultured. In Paul’s letter to Titus (which we will get to in a moment) he quotes one of their own philosopher-prophets, Epimenides (6^th century B.C.) who said "Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons." Paul wasn’t alone in this view. It was a widely held view among first century writers.

1. The courts of law were not interested in justice, but in financial compensation. (Law Code of Gortyn) For instance, a crime as serious as rape did not incur punishment, but a fine. On Crete, mothers could choose to leave their children to die, but only if the father did not want the child. And when a mother killed an infant without the father’s consent, she was charged a hefty fine.
2. Crete’s major industry was piracy. The northern shore of Crete was a haven for pirate bands that terrorized the Mediterranean. “The Cretans both by land and sea are irresistible in ambushes, tricks played on the enemy, night attacks, and all petty operations which require fraud” – Polybius.
3. The Cretans were well known for being greedy and dishonest. "Cretanize" was first century slang for lying. Writers describe their materialism: “So much do the lust for wealth and underhanded gain prevail among them that they are the only people in the world among whom no stigma attached to any sort of gain whatsoever” – Diodorus of Sicily. “Cretans are devoted to riches as bees are to a honeycomb.” – Plutarch. “The Cretans do everything in hope for cash” – Livy. Writers describe their dishonesty – “Cretans even consider highway robbery to be an honorable profession” – Cicero.
   The story is told of a military officer who betrayed his men to the Romans. The Roman general offered the man the honor of Rome to which the Cretan laughed. The Cretan was only interested in cash.
4. Sexual deviancy was held in high esteem. Its impact on families has been noted. In his travelogue, Strabo noted that homosexuality was held in high esteem by the Cretans during 1st century A.D.

How do you bring the gospel into a culture like this? Where do you begin? Is there any hope?
Paul and Titus stopped in Crete on one of their journeys. Paul departed and Titus was left there to complete what remained to be done (1:5). The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. He encounters opposition from a group of charlatans (Cretans who are using the faith and Jewish teaching as an opportunity for profit and power) who capitalize on the immature faith of the new converts. They distract the young missionary from his proper task. Paul is aware of this problem and is writing to give Titus advice on the situation.

Paul’s advice to nurture spiritual growth and holiness is proactive – not reactive! Paul urged Titus to teach sound – that is healthy – doctrine. The best way to overcome sickness is to keep oneself healthy – that’s proactive. Rather than focusing his energy and effort on disproving and discrediting the trouble-makers, Paul urges Titus to focus on proclaiming the grace of God and the hope of Christ’s rule so that people will get in touch with the transforming message and Spirit of the gospel.
Titus needs to spend his time finding the sort of leaders and elders who can model this type of life for the others. If he spends all of his time in stupid controversies, the trouble-makers will always outmaneuver him. But if he nurtures godly leaders then Titus can actually change the environment.

Read Titus 2:1-8 to get a look at the practical application of this approach to nurturing spiritual growth and holiness.

Perhaps in examining Crete we do not look at the past, as much as we see our own possible future as a nation. For instance, we wonder how we will ever influence our society for good with the gospel. Why can’t we follow the same proactive strategy the Paul gives Titus.

We have lost our influence because we have become reactive. We know what we are against, but we don’t know what we are for. Think of how the enemy has outmaneuvered us. How much time have we wasted by getting involved in "foolish controversies, arguments, quarrels, and fights about the law." Paul says that, "These things are useless and worthless." But we still think the goal of nurturing Christ-like people is more information! In fact, the grace of God that has appeared in Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life we have calls us to something more! – We have a much better goal that calls us to devote ourselves to doing good – this is excellent and profitable for all. This is spiritual TRANSFORMATION, not just INFORMATION.

Nurturing Spiritual Growth and Holiness – What can we learn from Paul’s advice to Titus?

1. Leaders that help us live right – Notice that Paul’s vision of leaders has very little to do with managing institutions. Paul doesn’t describe administration. That seems to be Titus’ responsibility more than anyone else’s (straighten out what remains to be done). The work of the leader on Crete is to keep people spiritually healthy. Spiritually healthy people will grow. But what about the work of the church? Who manages that? Spiritually healthy people are eager to do what is good. It doesn’t have to be managed. Why put limits on what is good? Leaders are not enforcers of rules. We are not called to be rule-keepers. We are called “to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” (2:12) Lists of rules can change from generation to generation. They change with styles and cultures. They are not absolute. Rules and lessons can become outdated or inappropriate in some circumstances – but self-control, righteousness, and godliness are always appropriate!
2. Loving Relationships – Notice that Paul wants Titus to encourage what is good for everyone. In a hostile environment, the people who are being changed by God’s grace will need one another. The teaching that goes on between the generations has to be in the context of a loving relationship. If the older generation assumes a role of arrogance or power – then the transformation and spiritual growth is lost. If the younger generation is resentful for the older generation then the same. Their good deeds are not just for their own sake, but for the sake of others. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have put their faith in God may devote themselves to good works. These things are good and helpful to other people (3:8). When all of us work together to nurture spiritual growth and holiness we become living lessons …
3. Living Curriculum – Paul’s advice to Timothy on Crete: Forget the debates, don’t get anxious and worried. Don’t suppose that you have to have better, snappier curriculum than your opponents. Develop a living curriculum! Older men who model the healthy teaching. Older women who model the healthy teaching and form loving relationships with the generation women. Younger men who hold one another accountable and strive to be like the older men who live out God’s grace and healthy teaching. Why? Why do it like this? Wouldn’t it be better to create a code of behavior? [It’s interesting that one of the earliest extra-biblical documents, the Didache, is not canonized.]
   • Personal Example: Campus Ministry

   • Example: Wild Elephants Why do we find it so difficult to understand the importance of mentoring across generations. It is important in nature – even elephants need mentoring … The park rangers at a South African wildlife preserve were concerned about the slaughter of 39 rare white rhinos in their park. It turned out that the rhinos were killed not by poachers but rather by juvenile delinquents-teen elephants.
     • The story began a decade ago when the park could no longer sustain the increasing population of elephants. They decided to kill many of the adult elephants whose young were old enough to survive without them. And so, the young elephants grew up fatherless. As time went on, many of these young elephants roamed together in gangs and began to do things elephants normally don’t do. They threw sticks and water at rhinos and acted like neighborhood bullies. Without dominant males, the young bulls became sexually active, producing excessive testosterone and exhibiting aggressive behavior. A few young males grew especially violent, knocking down rhinos and stepping or kneeling on them, crushing the life out of them. Mafuto the gang leader eventually had to be killed.
     • The park rangers theorized that these young teen-aged elephants were acting badly because they lacked role models. The solution was to bring in a large male to lead them and to counteract their bully behaviors. Soon the new male established dominance and put the young bulls in their places. The killing stopped. The young males were mentored-and saved.

¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 14 November 2004

The Great Deceit

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

The election is over. However, anxiety is not subsiding. It merely shifted to a different segment of society. Prior to the election, anxiety rested in the hearts of those concerned about “moral values.” After the election, anxiety rests on the minds of those who fear the meaning of “moral values,” who define moral concern differently.

Before the election there was great concern for the direction of this nation. After the election there is great concern for the direction of this nation. The only change: the identifiable groups of “the concerned.”

What is the great deceit? This conviction: spiritual goals are achieved through political means. Christianity began among a people with centuries of allegiance to God, but who failed to recognize God’s Son or God’s message. Christianity spread through a Mediterranean world and Roman empire that were thoroughly, visibly pagan. It was impossible to ignore the prestige of idolatry in any major city of the first century!

The first Christians did not have favorable laws or champions in high political places. Their lifestyle, faith, and commitment were misunderstood. They often were considered atheists because their God excluded other gods. They often were seen as a threat to the empire, to “peaceful” community life, and to businesses that had a patron god or goddess. Families in both Jewish and Gentile communities often disowned a family member who converted to Christ. Opposition was so severe in Asia Minor that Revelation indicates those Christians wondered if the Christian movement was doomed. In the first century Roman Empire, Christianity was an illegal, “undesirable” religion.

Yet, Christians endured and Christianity as a movement prevailed. Through a triumphant political plan of action? No. Then through what? Through faith in the God who raised Jesus from the tomb and made Him the Christ; through an unconquerable love for God, people, the Christian community, and enemies; through an enduring hope for resurrection.

It reasonably can be affirmed that a grave blow inflicted to the Christian movement was Emperor Constantine’s legalization of Christianity in the early 300’s A.D. Shortly after that, “church buildings” appeared. “The gods had their temples — how can there be an official religion of the Roman Empire that does not have a building?” Oh, the woes, debates, and confrontations within the Christian movement because of buildings! In time, the movement became synonymous with its buildings instead of its people!

Interesting! Was the emperor’s pronouncement of legalization a blessing? Spirituality is achieved when personal faith is nurtured to the level of absolute commitment. If we think spirituality is achieved through a political process, we are deceived. We are blinded to more fundamental moral problems. Surely we should seek the peace to follow God’s purposes (1 Timothy 2:1,2), but we should never confuse God’s eternal objectives with our physical desires and wishes.

Increasing Love and Godly Behavior – Part 2

Posted by Chris on October 31, 2004 under Sermons

One of the objectives of the West-Ark congregation is to increase in love and godly behavior. Last week we learned from Jesus that love is active. We are to love God with our whole being and we are to love our neighbors. We demonstrate that love by actively serving others and showing mercy and kindness. We do not choose whom we will treat as neighbor, rather we choose to be a neighbor.
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18 also instructs us that love and mercy are active. They must show up in our every day behavior. He calls us to the sort of behavior that acts in love and grace/mercy and preserves the unity of the church – not unity at all costs, but unity through communication with one another and communion with Jesus himself.

Jesus’ teaching about Church Community (18:1-14)

• The disciples ask "Who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Who’s the boss? Who’s in charge? Who shows the qualities of the best and the one who gets God’s favor?
• The Least: Kingdom virtues are quite different from worldly virtues. In the kingdom, the least are not ignored. The weak and the humble are not abused. The kingdom isn’t a dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest rule. It is a place where even the humblest child is among the most important.
  • Sin destroys community; love and godly behavior preserve it! The Lord of the kingdom is serious about the deadly forces that bring death to the people in this kingdom community. 1) Sin causes the least, the little ones, to suffer most so in love we discipline ourselves – – self-discipline and self-control. When a father or mother in a family refuses to control anger, addictions, lusts, greed then who suffers? Everyone, including the little ones. This is also true of the church community. How many churches have been hurt by members and leaders who will not restrain their own pride, anger, greed, dissatisfaction? It is better to do without that which causes someone to sin and to live maimed or blind than to have all the resources of the world as one goes barreling straight to hell. 2) Love demands we seek out the lost …
• The Lost: In the kingdom, there are no acceptable losses. The Lord is not willing that anyone should be lost. This calls us to the kind of love and concern for community that the Lord has. Not just a passive concern, but an active concern that goes out to find the lost. Usually we describe this as evangelism, but evangelism (proclaiming/speaking the good news) is more than recruiting new members. It involves bringing the lost into the kingdom and bringing them back when they stray. That’s evangelism? Sure, if you understand that evangelism is communication of the truth, then understand that evangelism also involves the on-going communication of gospel love in the church. That’s how Jesus chose to describe it. After mentioning the shepherd that goes to bring back the lost sheep, he teaches us very practically what it means to practice church communication …

Jesus’ Teaching on Church Communication (18:15-17)

• This is not "church discipline" in the sense of a legal outline for organizational control. This is communication in love. Look at this process and consider it in the context of mercy and love rather than institutional church discipline (which is not the context of the chapter):
  1. Go to your brother or sister (note the family language!) who has offended you/sinned against you – just between the two of you – and if he/she listens to you have won him/her back.
     • You do the going and just between the two of you. Sometimes we want to wait around and nurse the wound and we let it fester because the other person doesn’t notice how we’ve been hurt. That is a form of control that tries to punish the other but only hurts you.
     • Sins against you/offends you – sometimes we dilute the meaning by exchanging sin for offense. The term offense in this context goes back to the stumbling mentioned in v. 6. (The one who causes another to sin). We do not use the term offense in our modern usage in that way. We claim offense over things we just do not like or things that make us uncomfortable. We have to let some things go.
     • We need to talk to one another in loving constructive ways that seek to win each other over. And we have to do so humbly because one of two things is possible – either you have misunderstood the other person or the other person needs to overcome sin – and you are there to help them, not condemn them!
  2. If he or she will not listen take one or two others along. Sometimes a sin can be so powerful that we need help. But again the goal is to win the other person over. The goal is reconciliation.
     • This text does not say bring in the authorities. There is no mention of elders or ministers here. Often these are the logical choice as they are those we trust to minister to the wounded or to do the work of reconciliation. But anyone who can preserve the dignity and unity of the few involved and is mature enough to work toward reconciliation in Christ’s name without being entrenched in the conflict is a good choice. But this should not be the starting place. Don’t bring someone in if you haven’t tried the one-on-one approach first!
  3. Tell it to the church. Keep in mind that this is step 3. Everything else has been exhausted. And this is communication – not excommunication. This is an alert for prayer and help. Just as we bring before the congregation the names and needs of those who are ill or injured can’t we also do that with those who are in spiritual crisis? Why would we judge or make that the focus of gossip – we don’t do that with the ill or injured.
  4. If he or she refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him or her like a pagan or tax collector. This is the ultimate step. Now keep in mind that the offender has been given every opportunity to reconcile, but has refused at least three levels of effort to win him back. (And there’s no rule about when to progress to the next level!) Communication has fallen on a harden heart. So, we have here a sad affirmation of what is – this person doesn’t want to live like a citizen of the kingdom. Even at this level however the goal is still reconciliation. Repentance is still a possibility. Maybe the seriousness of this action shows that sin is serious problem.
• We put more weight on the phrase "but if he refuses to listen" than the phrase "you have won your brother back." And because of this we jump to the last step convinced that someone will not listen to us.
• Think of how much we miss out on because we don’t even act on step 1. Because we do not go and talk and listen we allow our imagination and emotions to run wild. And don’t think it would be any better if we were all just reasonable. Reason can be distorted also and we can rationalize inaction with endless justifications or institutional proceedings. The anonymous letter is just such a "so-called" rational approach. We think we have met our obligation to communicate peacefully by sending a message but denying ourselves and the other person the opportunity to agree and gather in Jesus’ name. Once a preacher received one of these anonymous letters in response to a statement he made in a sermon. He opened the envelope and it simply said, "Fool!" The next Sunday he brought the letter with him into the pulpit and said, "Last Sunday I experienced something quite unique. I have received many messages without a signature. Now for the first time someone has given me a signature without a message."

Jesus’ Teaching on Church Communion (18:18-20)

• Binding and loosing: When we are offended we want to go to authorities. Children tell their parents. Neighbors phone the police. Taxpayers write their congressmen. Classes of people summon armies of lawyers to go after faceless corporations. We want authority on our side because we know that someone has to win. Someone has to be right. But Jesus teaches that real authority is the privilege of the church – not the appointed officials. The Lord’s authority resides in the midst of his people where he dwells. They have power to bind and loose not because Jesus transferred power. No, because Jesus lives in his church and we are the agents of binding and loosing authority.
• We are missing out when we make too much of this business that sins are just between God and me. Often that’s a recipe for self-delusion. We don’t have to bear burdens alone. When one comes before the church it isn’t just to answer for a public sin – it is to affirm the power and presence of Jesus Christ to bind and loose. We not only confess sins publicly, we also confess the Lordship of Jesus. We are saying that sin isn’t going to get the last word in the kingdom of heaven. We are not going to let sin destroy the community or communion we have in Jesus Christ. In his name we forgive. We can confess forgiveness in Christ before six or six hundred. One to another or one before all. This is a godly behavior/action that empowers more godly behavior!
• Two or three gathered together in my name: This comment is about worship – but has implication beyond that. And it isn’t merely a comment on the quantity of worship, but of the quality of worship. Think about the effect of unresolved conflict in the church. Think about its effect on worship. What happens when two or three are not in agreement and they gather together. Do they gather in Jesus’ name? Is he there with them? How can the Lord answer our prayers when we have unresolved conflict among us?
• Nevertheless, many of us will continue to fellowship with one another by going through the motions of worship thinking that we are the one justified by God and we have never acted on the process of communication that Jesus just described in vv. 15-17. We have never spoken to the other person privately (whether we are offender or offended) and thus experience Jesus’ power to heal and forgive. We have never relied on the wise counsel of others who love us to reconcile differences and thus experience the presence of Jesus’ spirit. We have never shared our struggles with the church as a whole for fear of judgment, but if we are true to Jesus’ teaching then we do not experience judgment but grace and healing.
• Paul taught this lesson of Jesus to the Philippian church. He urged two women there, Euodia and Syntyche, to agree with one another in the Lord (Phil. 4). He even urged the leaders of that church to help them resolve their dispute. These disputes can become the "elephant in the room" that everyone walks around but no one mentions.

Epilogue: (18:21-35)
Peter’s Practical Question: How often do you forgive? Can’t we just be rid of the trouble at some point? Don’t we have to take a stand? What will people think if they see us weak on sin?
Good question. It is the sort of question that demands a story for an answer. The parable of the unmerciful servant – is he victim or victimized? Is he offended or offender? Is he greatest or least? Powerful or weak? Answer: All of the above. We cannot break our society down into simple classes of guilty and innocent. We cannot break it down into offended and offenders. We are all in debt. We are all in slavery. We are all bound and need to be loosed.

The dilemma for the unmerciful servant is the dilemma we all experience: It all depends on which side of the forgiveness fence we find ourselves. If we are the outcast wanting back in to the fold of grace yet again, then 70 x 7 sounds hopeful and welcome. If we are on the inside of the fence and we have control of the gate latch, then 70 x 7 is a great challenge. What will it cost us to release the latch? How will things change if we welcome the outsider, perhaps the one who has sinned against us?

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 31 October 2004

Expressing Love for God in Godly Behavior

Posted by David on October 24, 2004 under Sermons

A second congregational goal or objective given us by the elders to encourage us as we seek to make disciples of Jesus who are eager to do good works is this:

This evening I want us to focus on a teaching that I understand to be critical to spiritual existence in Christ. I want to focus on it by looking at Romans 6. Begin with me by looking with me at Romans 6:12-14.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

1. When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he was concerned about a huge problem that plagued the early Christian movement: Jewish Christians did not want Gentiles to become Christians unless they first were converted to Judaism.
   1. Why? What was the problem?
      1. When Christianity first began (Acts 2-9), only Jews or converts to Judaism were Christians.
      2. When Christianity was taught to and was accepted by people who were not Jews, it gravely distressed Jewish Christians (Acts 11, 15).
      3. It took Jewish people several hundred years to learn, but they finally understood God despises idol worship.
      4. Most of the first century Mediterranean world [in which Christianity began and spread] was composed of idol worshippers.
      5. Most Jewish Christians did not believe anyone could go from being a pagan idol worshipper to a follower of Jesus Christ without first converting to Judaism.
         1. First century idol worshippers were too often drunken, self-indulgent people who had few sexual morals, who lied without conscience, and who were totally untrustworthy–many Jews held the way they lived in contempt.
         2. They did not know God’s rules!
         3. They did not know how to keep God’s rules in the proper way!
         4. However, the Jews had been making gentile converts (proselytes) for a long time, and they understood how to get the paganism out of the pagans.
         5. To teach them grace would not correct the problem–if they were to have their paganism taken out of them, they had to learn the rules and the right way to keep the rules.
         6. Teaching the grace would not get their pagan ways out of them, but making good proselytes out of gentiles would get pagan ways out of them, and then they were ready to be Christians.
   2. Allow me to use an illustration.
      1. In the south and southwest most churches define sin in the same way.
         1. In fact, some religious groups are more conservative in their definition of sin than many in the Church of Christ are.
         2. Thus most of our discussions, disagreements, and issues in the south and southwest do not discuss what is and is not sin.
         3. In the south and southwest, most of our disagreements focus on two things:
            1. Conversion matters. (How to become a Christian.)
            2. Theological positions. (What to believe as a Christian.)
      2. Suppose for a moment you have to move to an entirely different region of this country, far removed from the south or southwest region.
         1. You move just assuming “everybody knows ‘X’ is wrong.”
         2. However, you do not live in this new region long before you are acutely aware that your understanding of sin and the understanding of sin of most of those around you is quite different.
         3. For example, for you, it is a sin not to worship and commune on Sunday, but most of the people you meet could care less about worshipping on Sunday.
            1. In fact, they are more likely to invite you to go do something purely for fun on Sunday than you are to invite them to worship.
            2. And that just blows your mind!
            3. If you meet people who attend a church, often their basic concept of church has little in common with your concept–there are truly fundamental differences in your concept of church.
            4. But more likely, you encounter pure apathy when it comes to Christian concerns–you have never seen that kind of apathy before! People don’t have the same conscience, the same definitions of right and wrong, the same views of what is evil that you have.
      3. If the church is to influence people toward a Christian concept of sin and spiritual responsibility in that environment, what needs to be done?
         1. “Well, I am not certain about what needs to be done–it is a confusing situation!”
         2. “But I know this much–we do not need to convert ‘people like that’ or they will have a terrible influence on Christians!”
         3. That was the Jewish Christians’ concern–if you do not get all of the paganism out of these gentiles before they are baptized, they will have a terrible influence on Christianity–they will encourage Christians to do all kinds of ungodly things, and have no conscience against those things!
   3. Too often we, as Christians of today, are the victim of an enormous problem as we use scripture.
      1. We become [in all likelihood legitimately] concerned about a “now” problem that gravely troubles us.
         1. We in our concern go to the Bible with a big box and find a box full of texts that we can apply to our “right now” problem that troubles us.
         2. Our primary concern as we collect our box of texts is this: “does it say what I feel needs to be said; does it say it in the way I want to say it.”
         3. The question is not: “did the inspired writer address this type of concern when he wrote these words?”
         4. If the writer heard me make my statements and points, would he say, “I did not have that concern or emphasis in mind when I wrote those words; I was not even addressing that type of concern.”
      2. In our concern, we do not emphasize what scripture stresses, but we emphasize what we stress.
         1. If we are not extremely careful, we stress what concerns us rather than what concerns God.
         2. We are not trying to ignore or be disrespectful to God.
         3. The problem is this: we are so confident that we know what God’s concerns are that we do not take the time to actually listen to God.

2. Consider Romans 6.
   1. I suspect that the majority of sermons most of us have heard that use any part of Romans 6 as text are sermons that stress the importance and the mode of baptism.
      1. I would suspect that many of us who have heard or read Romans 6 would say that it is about baptism.
      2. However, Romans 6 is not about baptism.
         1. It was written to people who already had been baptized.
         2. Romans 6 is about dying to sin.
         3. Baptism is only an illustration to those who had been baptized that “if you follow Christ you must die to sin.”
   2. Paul said, “Christians, you do not accept God’s grace revealed in Jesus Christ to continue to live (in a knowing, deliberate manner) an ungodly life.”
      1. The person who comes to Jesus Christ comes to make Jesus the master of his or her existence.
         1. There are only two basic life controlling masters: the resurrected Jesus and sin (evil).
         2. In the biblical worldview, either sin rules you, or Jesus rules you.
         3. The whole purpose of baptism is the conscious choice to allow Jesus to rule you.
         4. That is why in the act of baptism we consciously, knowingly, deliberately die to sin–we begin the deliberate process of killing sin in our lives.
         5. Why?
            1. Jesus was resurrected.
            2. Jesus can give us life.
            3. Jesus can give us forgiveness.
            4. In Jesus, a person can truly begin again, start over.
      2. Romans 6 is not about atonement (a biblical concept), but about responsibility.
         1. The person who becomes a Christian declares to himself, to God, and to the world that he will no longer let sin be his/her master.
            1. “I will not let evil control me.”
            2. “I will not let evil use my physical existence to accomplish its purposes.”
            3. “I will not let evil define who I am and what my life is about.”
         2. The person declares to himself, to God, and to the world that he chooses the resurrected Jesus Christ to be the master of his life.
            1. “I consciously will let Jesus Christ control me.”
            2. “I will let my physical existence be used to accomplish righteous purposes.”
            3. “I will let Jesus define who I am and what my life is about.”
      3. In Romans 6 Paul says the person who becomes a Christian knowingly, deliberately chooses to die to sin.
         1. Paul emphasizes this dying is a continuing process, not a one time achievement.
         2. It is not an irresponsible undertaking.
         3. God’s grace is not to be confused with deliberate, irresponsible behavior.
         4. A Christian cannot claim to belong to God and deliberately choose to live his or her in an ungodly lifestyle.
         5. The commitment to die to sin is a serious commitment, one given and followed without reservation, pursued wholeheartedly.
         6. The person knows what he/she was when sin was his/her master, and the person knows what he/she is now that Jesus Christ is his/her master.
         7. He/she is happy, appreciative to have Jesus Christ as master.
         8. All he/she had to look to in the future with sin as master was death, but with Jesus Christ as master he looks forward to eternal life.

Romans 6 points to a terrible problem among Christians that caused destruction from the beginning. The reason Romans 6 focused on the problem is because the problem existed in the first century. It still exists. It destroyed Christians then. It destroys Christians now.

What problem? The problem of people being baptized when they have no intention of dying to sin. Too often people are afraid not to be baptized, but they have no intention of dying to sin. If we do not commit ourselves to dying to sin, there is no blessing or benefit in being baptized. For baptism to yield the blessing of the gift of salvation, the person has to responsibly commit to (1) Jesus Christ being his/her master and (2) dying to sin.

Increasing my love for God is a process. Increasing my godly behavior is a process. Both involve maturing. Both involve understanding. Both involve growth. Both are an every day process and progression, not a one time accomplishment. I can make today’s commitment today. I can face today’s temptations today. I can place today’s trust in God today. I can make tomorrow’s commitment, face tomorrow’s temptations, place tomorrow’s trust in God only when tomorrow becomes today. I take care of today as a godly person to equip myself to take care of tomorrow as a godly person.

What commitment did you make to God when you were baptized?

Increasing Love and Godly Behavior – Part 1

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

One of our stated goals as a church family is to increase love and godly behavior. Here are a couple of questions: First, why would we want to strive for that? Answer: It is important to making disciples and being disciples. We just won’t be true disciples if we are unloving and ungodly. Second, how can we increase in love and godly behavior? Do I just will myself to love everyone? Do I commit myself to more good deeds to prove I care? Do I have to love more people? Sometimes it is hard to love the people I do know. These are good questions. Response: We might increase love and godly behavior when we realize that they are more than just good deeds or good will – they are the tangible evidence of our eternal life emerging into our life even now. They are visible elements of God’s saving power at work in us.

Jesus made the connection among behavior, eternal life, and love on a certain occasion when an expert in the Jewish law asked him two important questions (Luke 10:25-37): His first question, a very common question for a rabbi, was "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" I sort of hope that if an expert in the law asked me a question I would do just what Jesus did – defer it to the expert: "You’re the scholar here," he says. "You’ve studied Scripture, what do you think?" The expert comes back with an answer Jesus himself has given as the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18)
Now notice that Jesus doesn’t regard this sort of love as just a warm feeling or a compassionate tear in the eye. He regards it as a directive for action and a principle for behavior – "Do that and you will live." Now wasn’t that simple? With two verses and six words Jesus has given the answer to eternal life.

But can it really be that simple? I mean couldn’t this instruction to "do that" be mistaken for works-righteousness? And I think I know how to love God (there was a little more detail there) but how do I love my neighbor and what neighbors are we talking about here. What exactly are my obligations to other people?
That’s just how the expert saw it. Wanting to justify himself he couldn’t accept the simplicity of Jesus’ answer. So he asked his second question – "Who is my neighbor?" There, that will teach Jesus to make such comprehensive statements! I mean really, we can’t go around acting as if there isn’t some sort of exception. Life just isn’t that simple. The scripture says neighbor and not just "love everybody," so it cannot be an absolute. We need to define neighbor, yes?

Love your neighbor as yourself. Who is my neighbor? Jesus answers this question with a story …
Once there was a certain man traveling the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now as we all know, it is a dangerous route and a hideout for bandits. And as you might expect he is ambushed, beaten, stabbed, and robbed – stripped of all his belongings and left for dead. He will die if someone does not arrive to help him.

Now along comes this priest riding along on his donkey. He notices the unfortunate victim but passes by on the other side of the road. Perhaps he thinks the man is a Gentile or that his disregard for the commands of God has led him to this state. It might be a ruse and this is just an attempt to get me over there by the high grass and robbers will attack me. He mulls this over until he is on down the road. Meanwhile the certain man is still there and He will die if someone does not help him.

Now there comes a Levite walking to Jerusalem to do his service in the Temple. He sees the man and passes by on the other side. Perhaps he thinks the man might be dead and it wouldn’t do for him to defile himself by touching a dead body – not that he’s squeamish after all since he deals with the sacrifice of animals – but if he is defiled then who will fulfill the service in the Temple? What can be done if the man is dead? Meanwhile the certain man is still there and He will die if someone does not help him.

Now at this point in the story, we are just waiting for the hero to arrive. Jesus must have offended the expert of the law and any other faithful Israelites listening by making the next traveler a Samaritan. Samaritans have no respect for God’s law. They have no respect for the temple. They are the result of intermingling between Israelites and Assyrians. They claim to be descendents of Abraham but their history and behavior proves otherwise. Everyone in Jerusalem recalls the acts of terror and destruction Samaritans have committed. It wasn’t too many years before Jesus told this story that Samaritans defiled the temple with pig blood and vandalism. That’s an attack that not only destroys, but also creates panic – it is symbolic. Jesus should know what sort of people these Samaritans are. The Samaritan woman he spoke to at the well (John 4) had been married four times and was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Just before this Q & A with the expert in the law he and his disciples traveled through Samaria and no one offered them hospitality simply because he was on his way to Jerusalem (Luke 9). That was so offensive that James and John asked if Jesus wanted them to call down fire on the Samaritans as if they were Sodom and Gomorrah. That’s your average Samaritan for you.

But back to the story Jesus says (and I can’t believe he’s saying this) that a Samaritan comes along and he has compassion for the man so he stops, makes bandages from his own garments, uses oil and wine (his provisions for his journey) to medicate the man’s wounds, takes him to an inn (where he is very likely unwelcome), pays the bill and leaves some sort of item on credit to insure that he will pay the bill should it go higher.
So, going back to the original question that prompted this story, Jesus has a "neighbor question" of his own – "Which of these three appears to have been a neighbor to the one who was robbed?" The expert of the law – no doubt quite offended by the way the story turned out with a Samaritan cast against type – answers without soiling his lips with the "S" word. "The neighbor to the man who was robbed is the one who showed him mercy."

Two Responses – It is important to notice these two responses. They go back to our two questions earlier. The response of the expert is: "The one who did mercy." Sure, that’s bad grammar, but that’s how it is in the original language. And that fits with Jesus’ response to the response that addresses both the question "Who is my neighbor?" and "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus’ response: Go and do the same.

• Does Jesus answer the question of the expert about who is my neighbor? (No) He invalidates the question. If one has love characteristic of eternal life, one does not choose one’s neighbor, one chooses to be a neighbor.
• Christ-like love does not ask "Who is my neighbor?" Rather, it is active. ("Go and do the same.")

Doing mercy and love and good deeds aren’t so we will get saved. We do what we are. Sometimes there is too much distinction made between doing and being – If I ask you what you do you don’t say: "Well, let’s see on Monday I fixed a brake line and before that I changed an oil filter, and then replaced a water pump." No you say, "I am a mechanic." I understand what you do when you tell me what you are. That’s the way it usually works. So why can’t we get the idea that saying "I am a disciple of Jesus. I am a Christian. I am a child of God" sorts out what we do? We love because he first loved us. We behave in a godly way because we share in his divine nature. Growing in the understanding of our life in Jesus helps us understand what we should do, otherwise we are stunned into inaction …

This teaching of Jesus became something I experienced one Saturday in Scotland. A few of us there for a mission campaign were walking down a road in Glasgow – in a pretty rough part of town. As we were on our way, a drunk was thrown out of a bar into the road in front of us. It would have been almost comical if it hadn’t been for the fact that the old alcoholic got up from the ground with a bloody nose. He cursed the bar owner, and not being able to stand he slumped down to the sidewalk and sat next to a garbage can. A human being, thrown out with the trash! As we walked on not wanting to get involved with the intense drama, one of my companions, a new Christian, said "Shouldn’t we help that fellow?" (That’s the problem with new Christians – they are just so naïve and haven’t learned how to justify themselves). Seeking to justify myself I pointed out that the man was a drunk and he had probably done something really wrong to get thrown out a bar. Besides that, I was thinking to myself, I need to get back to work on my sermon because I am preaching on a text I just recently studied, Luke 10 and the parable of the Good Samaritan.

I learned a valuable lesson through this living parable. If I have to ask "who is my neighbor?" then I do not understand love. Not the sort of love for neighbor that flows out of love for God and the eternal life we enjoy as a result of God’s love for us. After all, if we have been so blessed as to inherit eternal life from our Father who loves us, shouldn’t we be willing to increase – to grow in love and share that love with others?

Conclusion (Increasing Love and Godly Behavior – They go together for Christ-like love is active) – Who do you identify with today – in both these stories.

1. Can you identify with the priest and Levite? – (Or me in Scotland). We can never justify our inheritance of eternal life by obeying a long list of laws or by limiting our obligations with a short list of neighbors. Both attempts are contrary to love (the love of God)
2. Can you identify with the victim of robbers/or the drunk or every broken person you encounter? – Their only hope is that others will be merciful neighbors who come with the grace to heal and restore – isn’t that what Jesus did?
3. Can you identify with the Samaritan or with the naïve Christian who wants to be like Jesus – It isn’t one’s class, nationality, training, or theological affiliation that justifies. What justifies us is love acting in mercy – doing mercy. Being a neighbor.

Maybe you don’t want to identify with a Samaritan and you can’t recall what it was like to be a naïve Christian. Fine, can you identify with the author and perfecter of eternal life – Jesus? Didn’t the Samaritan just do what Jesus would do? And didn’t Jesus do love and godly behavior. He did, and it got him nailed to the cross, but it also got him raised from the tomb. Here’s how we increase love and godly behavior – those of you who’ve been baptized and those who would be – I want you to know that when you were/are submerged into Christ you were/are baptized into his death and live with the hope of being resurrected. God’s love and his behavior live in you.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 24 October 2004

Despair and Hope

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Once again, the myth is shattering. The last half of the 20th century said hope was in humanity. So much we destroyed in World War II we rebuilt. We said to the defeated, “You can begin again! Do not exist in despair! See the world differently!” We said to ourselves, “Surely everyone has learned the value and joy of peace!”

We declared to the world, “Help us sustain our wonderful culture, and we will learn things that will bless everyone. We are not bad! We share! If the world lets us, we will be Santa Claus to everyone. The world would be a much worse place if it did not have us!”

We declared, “People are basically good; only a few are not. However, good people always will prevail in any society anywhere. If they adopt our values, good is certain!”

We believed science was a wonderful savior. It produced wonderful knowledge. It produced fabulous discoveries and inventions. It made possible things undreamed of decades ago.

Then we were introduced to people who believe there are values more important than peace. We met people who do not believe in our goodness or trust us. We came to know people who believe we reject divine authority and are not dedicated to virtue. Instead, they see us as materialists, or pleasure worshippers, or those who use power selfishly, or those who use technology more quickly to destroy than to help, or those who care more about their lifestyle than they care about people.

What began as a slow process is now a deepening realization — many people in the world just do not like us. Some think they do the world a favor when they kill us. Constantly we are reminded that evil is real. Increasingly, we are aware that we (as a people) are more likely to be remembered for the hurt we cause instead of the good we do. In fact, many say we do good only if our good is self-serving.

We are sobered as we realize that hope in peace is misplaced hope; hope in humanity is misplaced hope; hope in science is misplaced hope; hope in an incredible lifestyle is misplaced hope; and hope in “the goodness of our culture” is misplaced hope.

The only real, enduring hope is hope in the God who knew us at our worst and still loved us. How much did He love us? He loved us enough to give us a Savior to rescue us from evil and ourselves.

Did He love us because we deserve His love? Absolutely not! His love for us comes from His nature, not from our deservedness. Because He is God, He did for us what we never would do for someone like us.

Can we ever transform this world into a “heavenly” existence? To believe we can and will is to be a victim of our own deception! Can we live with the God who, knowing we were sinners, gave us a Savior! Certainly! Therein is hope!

Seeing This World As God Does – Part 2

Posted by David on October 17, 2004 under Sermons

Genesis 1 declares God acted. God brought this world and life into existence. In a more detailed account, Genesis 2 gives some of the details about God’s action in crowning His creation with man and woman. The Bible literally opens with God acting.

In Genesis 3 evil reacts to God’s action. God brings human life into existence. Evil deceives human life. When God brought human life into existence, nothing stood between God and the human life forms He created. When God looked at His completed creation, He could say, “It is very good!” (Genesis 1: 31) When evil deceived Eve and Adam followed her into deception, a humanly irreparable separation immediately occurred between God and the humanity He made in His own image. As evil continued to deceive people, the chasm between God and humanity increased. Finally, God looked at the people originally made in his own image and regretted that He made humanity (Genesis 6:5,6). God went from saying His completed creation was very good to regret in only 6 chapters!

This war between good (that comes from God–James 1:17) and evil (that comes from the devil [Satan], the great deceiver–John 8:44) repeatedly is emphasized in scripture. For example, God through Moses acted in seeking to produce the nation of Israel in the exodus (Exodus 3:16-22). Evil through Pharaoh reacted against God’s purposes (Exodus 5-11). God acted in giving the new nation of Israel the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). Evil reacted against God by having the golden calf made as an idol (Exodus 32:1-8). God acted in bring the adults delivered from Egypt to the borders of Canaan (Numbers 13:1-20). Evil reacted against God in the report of the ten Israelite spies who discouraged the Israelites (Numbers 13:21-33). When Israel was established in Canaan, God acted in trying to build a relationship of remembrance with Israel (the book of Judges). Evil acted against God by turning the hearts of the Israelites to a family of gods known as the Baal worship (the book of Judges). Much later, God acted by sending Jesus (John 3:16,17). Evil reacted against God by deceiving God’s people and having them reject Jesus (John 6, 8). God acted through Jesus’ teachings and miracles. Evil reacted against God with the crucifixion (Matthew 27). God acted through Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10). Evil reacted against God by declaring the resurrection either did not occur (Acts 17:32), or by deceiving early Christians about the meaning of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).

The world has changed, but the war between good and evil continues. This war is occurring in our lives this very moment. Seeing the world as God sees it means we must learn to discern between good and evil. The only way to avoid Satan’s deception is to allow God to help us discern between good and evil. If we are going to see the world as God sees it, we must see the war. We must understand how easy it is to be deceived in our own lives.

To see the world as God sees it, we must accept two basic realities.

1. Reality one: no one can live in this physical existence and not be touched by the war between good and evil.
   1. For a long time we Americans lived in the conviction that wars could not touch us.
      1. “Wars are something that are fought somewhere else, not here in our country.”
      2. Then 9/11 happened, and we were forced to realize that wars can be fought here, also.
      3. With the realizations of 9/11, we were introduced to a new kind of fear–the fear of being the battleground.
      4. While we do not want to be the battleground, we now understand that much more is involved than what we want.
   2. No matter how devoted to good we think we are as a person or as a group, if we live in this world our lives will be touched (changed!) by the war between good and evil.
      1. Even if it were possible to do no evil, a person who never did evil would still suffer as a result of the war raging between good and evil.
      2. We must not be deceived into thinking that the key to avoiding the war is embracing good–if you live in the world, the war between good and evil will involve your life in direct ways.
      3. Only one person [Jesus] lived in this world and did no evil.
         1. That truth figures prominently in the message of the book of Hebrews.
            Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
            Hebrews 7:26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens …
            Hebrews 5:7-9 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation
         2. Though Jesus was without sin–committed no form of evil–he still was touched by the war between evil and good.
            1. Though he did not sin, he still dealt with temptation (see Matthew 4:1-11).
            2. Though he did not sin, he could be discouraged by those who did not understand (see Matthew 16:23).
            3. Though he did not sin, he still experienced physical need (see John 4:1-7).
            4. Though he did not sin, he could experience loneliness and weakness (see Matthew 26:36-46).
            5. Though he did not sin, he experienced surrender, pain, and death (the crucifixion of Jesus).
         3. In a true sense, we could say that Jesus was the ultimate casualty in the war between good and evil!
      4. Never be deceived into thinking or believing that if you were “just good enough” your life would not be victimized by the war between good and evil!

2. Reality two: our lives are touched by the war between good and evil in many ways.
   1. Everyone of us suffers the consequences of this war in many ways.
      1. We can be touched by evil as the consequence of someone we do not even know who is involved in evil.
         1. There are many ways to illustrate this truth; it is a common reality in this physical world.
         2. Consider this illustration: you have a 17 year old child you are close to and who is an all around good child.
            1. In a nearby city there is a drug dealer you do not know and have never heard of.
            2. A teen you have never met, never heard of, decides he wants to try some meth for the first time.
            3. He makes the purchase from the drug dealer, takes the meth, gets high, and starts driving.
            4. Eventually he drives to the Fort Smith area.
            5. Your 17 year old is driving somewhere.
            6. The teen high on meth hits your child’s car and kills your child.
            7. In no way are you involved in the evil that transpired, but you suffer greatly because of that evil.
      2. We can be touched by an evil that exists in our lives that we have not as yet identified.
         1. Let me call to your attention a statement found in 1 John 1:5-10.
         2. The particular statement is found in verse 9:
            1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
            1. I understand this to be written to Christians–John includes himself in the “we” of verse five, and chapter 2 makes it evident he is writing to “my little children.”
            2. The whole section (1:5-10) is powerfully encouraging because it declares Christians will make mistakes and perfection is not a condition of forgiveness. There is a workable, livable solution for our mistakes and imperfections!
            3. Stated simply, if we will confess to God things we know that are wrong as we realized those wrong things, God will not only forgive the things we confess, but will forgive us of everything–all unrighteousness.
            4. If we will accept responsibility for our mistakes, God will even forgive us of things we do not yet understand to be wrong–even though those things are evil!
         3. Everyone of us has evil in us that we have not yet recognized–we do not even realize that the evil is evil.
            1. Because the evil is forgiven does not mean the consequences which result from the evil are eliminated!
            2. Sometimes we endure the consequences of forgiven evil!
         4. Again, that is easily illustrated.
            1. A person sees no evil in living with someone.
            2. As a result of living with someone, a pregnancy occurs.
            3. Because the level of commitment is often low in live-in arrangements, the father-to-be leaves when he hears about the pregnancy.
            4. After the fact, the mother-to-be learns living together is evil, does what scripture says to do to repent, and is serious in her faith.
            5. Is she forgiven? Yes!
            6. Does the pregnancy vanish with the forgiveness? No!
      3. We can be touched with the consequences or evil by yielding to a temptation that we know is evil before involvement ever occurred.
         1. We do something wrong for whatever reason.
            1. We knew it was wrong before we were tempted, when we were tempted, and after we sinned.
            2. But for whatever the powerful motivations were, we knowingly did wrong.
            3. No matter how we react to what we did, we will still endure the consequences of the evil we committed.
         2. This, too, is easy to illustrate.
            1. If anyone of the church leaders in this congregation committed adultery in a moment of temptation, we would have serious consequences to endure.
            2. Did the person know adultery was wrong before the temptation? Yes!
            3. Did the person know adultery was wrong during the adulterous act? The person may have refused to think about it, but, yes, that was known.
            4. Did the person know adultery was wrong after the adultery? Yes–we usually refer to that as “guilt.”
         3. Will the person pay consequences? Absolutely!
            1. Relationships with the congregation will be damaged.
            2. Their marriage will be damaged.
            3. Positions will be ended.
            4. The person’s life will be affected.
            5. Even if forgiveness occurs, there will be unavoidable consequences.

The understanding that the war between good and evil is real has direct impact on the meaning of the gospel (good news). The good news IS NOT “if you devote your life to good you will never suffer because evil exists.” That is a great deception from evil that will destroy your faith the first time you endure serious suffering because of something evil!

The good news (gospel) is this: the suffering caused by evil in this physical world can not take you away from God! Evil in this world can hurt you, but it cannot destroy you!

Romans 8:38,39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Proclaiming a Biblical Worldview – Part 2

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Last Sunday we considered what a worldview is. We recognize that everyone has a worldview. We also recognized that in the shifting and conflicting worldviews that are available in our culture (modern vs. postmodern) there is a different option for Christians – a biblical worldview, that sees the world how God sees it. God gives us a new set of lens’ that enable us to see the world clearly.

Today, staying with the metaphor of the lenses, we might consider this: How do we get those lenses and what exactly do things look like through them (what are the characteristics of a biblical worldview)? I have to say from the start that developing a biblical, or Christ-like, worldview isn’t something that happens instantly. Unlike Lenscrafters, we cannot get our new view in an hour or less. However, the good news is that it is simple to enter into the way of life that cultivates and proclaims this worldview. This is a process, not a prescription, because we have to learn to believe and act like our Lord Jesus. And learning to be like Jesus isn’t a matter of studying a handbook; it is an apprenticeship in which we learn the craft of true living. For we don’t simply learn about Jesus as if he is some historical person, we learn from him for he is living and rule as Lord. When we come to Jesus and receive the kingdom rule of Christ through faith and baptism, our "lenses" are reshaped in his presence as we worship him, we come to know him as we spend time being nurtured in Christian community, and we become like him as we actively serve others in the spirit of Christ doing what he would do.

Developing and proclaiming a biblical worldview is a lifelong discipline, but we begin somewhere. So for our worship today, let’s begin where Jesus began when he proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes are Jesus’ proclamation of the good news of God’s future rule invading the present. Jesus pronounces blessings and issues a summons to see the world from heaven’s vantage point. He calls us to a way of belief and practice that cuts against the grain of the worldview of the fallen world. Listen carefully to the Beatitudes as a proclamation of a very different way of life not just good news for the unfortunate or proverbs of good basic morals. This is a declaration about the way God is making a new creation …

Read Matthew 5:1-12

This new creation has serious implications for you and me. [Illustration] There’s a sinful order to this present world that is fading away and decaying. And like most of the world, you and I have formed some of our worldview on this order of things. But there’s a new order of things emerging into this world. It’s the way of things that will ultimately endure. It is the order of the world that will prevail. And we are called to actively develop a worldview that shapes our belief and action around this new order of creation. The Beatitudes are the proclamation of a kingdom worldview and we are called by the promise of God’s blessings to be reoriented and changed to adopt this worldview.

And to properly hear this proclamation let’s take a moment to consider how challenging this new worldview really is. First, think about who is blessed. Think about those adjectives without their gilded, sanctified context. Who blessed? Those who are … poor, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting, merciful, pure, peacemakers, persecuted. It is not our typical image of blessed. It doesn’t fit the worldview of our age nor does it fit the worldview proclaimed by many churches! We might expect to say that those who are blessed are successful, content, confident, satisfied, determined, benevolent, influential, and respected. [Have you ever thought that leaders in the church ought to be poor, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting, merciful, pure, peacemakers, persecuted? Could these be qualifications for elders? Characteristics of the minister a church wants to hire? Are these characteristics of a purpose-driven life?] These adjectives and blessing can only be reconciled by the wisdom of the cross and a kingdom worldview. The wisdom of our world and the worldview of our culture cannot connect these.

The Beatitudes indicate four fundamental characteristics of a biblical worldview that enable us to see the world and live in the world "perfectly." These characteristics are trust in God, hope of God’s Rule, love for God and others, and the peace of God. (Note to reader – I am indebted to two excellent sources for this outline: J. Brownson, et al, Stormfront: The Good News of God, Eerdmans, 2003; and R. Lischer, "The Sermon on the Mount as Radical Pastoral Care," Interpretation 41(2002): 157-183.)

Trust in God – Blessed are the Poor in Spirit and the Meek
In God We Trust! Do we? It runs counter to the worldview of this age: we trust in rights, laws, influence, status, success, and the security and power of wealth (even some of our principles about stewardship are rooted in a trust in the accumulation of wealth rather than trust in God – A church I knew kept it’s wealth in a savings account for years without contributing to much of anything).
Poor? Really? Doesn’t poor in spirit mean something other than wealth? Yes, but it certainly includes those who are limited in the resources of wealth. Maybe the fact that we don’t think the Beatitudes apply to us shows how our worldview is skewed.
Meek? Is anyone really meek anymore? Sure it suits pilgrims and Amish, but can that truly be respected in our media-based, image-driven age?
Churches are sometimes driven to be successful and relevant in the eyes of the world. Seminars and products in the Church growth field promise ways to attract new members and provide something for everyone. These are not nefarious schemes to undermine the church. There are many good motives and intentions, but how many church growth resources invite us to become poor in spirit so we might receive the kingdom of God? It is a subtle distortion of the worldview that creates this problem. When we strive to be like Jesus we see him taking a different path – He had all the power of heaven and earth at his command, but he trusted in God and did not take advantage of that power and wealth. He was poor in spirit.

Hope of God’s Rule – Those that Mourn and the Merciful
In the kingdom we have hope because the worst things are never the last things. A biblical worldview doesn’t deny that we mourn. Perhaps this is how our worldview is so different from the world. [Prov. about wisdom and mourning] Our culture medicates with idle entertainment and pleasure: "We want our MTV!" We spend time basking in the glow of ever-growing television channels. We watch or go to sporting events to purge our emotions. We seek thrills in any number of socially acceptable addictions – shopping, soft-porn magazines and websites that don’t have to be sold in the adult section. These quick thrills are for people trying to escape the reality of hurt and disappointment. They are all ways of insulating ourselves from the disappointment and suffering of the world. And we deny ourselves healing because we do not mourn. The Christian worldview on Mourning is unique because it leads to hope The worldly worldview by contrast is hopeless.
As a minister, people ask me how I can function in tragedy and sorrow: "I guess you are trained to do that?" they ask. Not really! In fact, there’s no secret technique. My training is the development of the Christ-like worldview that reshapes my view of reality. We grieve -but not like those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We mourn over the brokenness and death and pain in the world, but we are blessed for we shall be comforted by God.

Mercy cannot survive or exist without hope. Look at the way people responded to 9/11. Those without hope cannot let go of the event. They hate rather than forgive. Something has to be done about evil, but the Christian worldview hopes for God’s justice, and is not satisfied by our temporary substitutes. Mercy and hope take courage and strength.
In history and cultures mercy is often viewed as immoral – As our culture loses hope in God’s Rule and hope for nothing more than our own authority, we lose mercy. In our cut -throat culture of business and government, we call it competition, politics, or aggressive success.
To see the world like Jesus does means that love and hope cast out fear. We are not afraid to show mercy, for we know that we have received mercy under God’s rule. And we are not afraid to admit that we mourn because we know that God’s rule does not shame those who mourn, but offers comfort.

Love for God and Others – Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness and the Pure in Heart
Jesus gives us the core of biblical teaching and that’s a central characteristic of a biblical worldview. Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the Greatest Commandment. God sent Jesus so that we might be reconciled to him and Jesus sends us so we might also be reconciled with one another. See what Jesus said about righteousness: "Be perfect (or complete) like God is perfect." Later in the sermon he describes this radical call to righteousness. It is more than following the rules. In fact if all you’ve ever heard are the rules, then Jesus will take it a step further: The problem isn’t just murder, but the anger that is the seed of murder and the opposite of love. The problem isn’t just adultery, but the lust that objectifies others and uses people. The problem isn’t just keeping the law with regard to divorce, but losing the love that is the basis of marital relationship. The problem isn’t the legality of a binding power of an oath, but the dishonesty that doesn’t respect others and doesn’t honor God.
Righteousness is rooted in building the proper loving relationship with God and one another. How practical is this as the basis of our worldview. It can change the relationships between human beings, men and women, husbands and wives, friends and enemies. Beatitudes are communal!
But for our righteousness to be God’s perfect righteousness we have to seek his face. We want to be pure in heart. Self-righteousness is hypocrisy because it isn’t concerned for anyone but self. It is arrogant puffed up and rude. We know we are better than those who don’t keep the rules. That sort of thinking comes from the wrong worldview. In the Kingdom purity is devotion to God even before devotion to self – that’s the single eye Jesus teaches us to have. That the eye that will be blessed, for with it we will see God!

Peace of God – Blessed are the Peacemakers and the Persecuted
This is at the core of Making Disciples. In making disciples, or evangelizing, we are not recruiting new members for the church! (I once encountered this statement in the church – "If we have budget problems then we need to get busy with evangelism – it is the best way to increase membership and contribution." Often the statement is made that crassly, but I think that recruitment and survival of the church is what motivates us.) This is why our worldview has a lot to do with evangelism. Are we trying to grow the church, or are we pursuing the cause of God’s peace? With a biblical worldview we believe that God grows the church and he preserves it. We see ourselves as Peacemakers and we are instruments of Peace. Paul viewed his ministry of making disciples like this: 2 Corinthians 5:16 – So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
When we realize how sinful we all are then the way to peace is made clear and we call everyone to be reconciled to God. Of course the peace of the rule of King Jesus threatens the values and ways of the world. They are in rebellion and that creates conflict. Proclaiming a biblical worldview is dangerous. As someone once said, "Living out the Beatitudes will get you killed." Closing charge Matthew 7:24-29 – Hearing and doing (Wise man and Foolish man) What foundation will you build your life on this week?

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 17 October 2004

How Do I Define Me?

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Ephesians 2:19, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household …”

How any person defines self depends on the circumstances of his or her life. What is the person’s life about? Is it about surviving in inescapable poverty? Is it about excelling in opportune circumstances? Is it about giving or receiving pleasure as a person existing in a culture of personal pleasure? Is it about self-indulgence and greed in a social group dedicated to self-indulgence and greed? Is it about acquiring power in an environment that respects little but power? Is it about escape? Typically, a person defines himself or herself in ways that he or she sees as predominant in “my world” or in ways exhibited by “important” people who surround him or her.

Self-definitions are relevant! Typically, “I” seek to become “my” definition of what a person in “my” situation should be. Many people dedicate extraordinary efforts toward becoming what they think they should be as individuals. What is attractive? What is feminine? What is masculine? What is “my” concept of a single? Of a wife? Of a husband? Of a parent? Of an adolescent? Of success? Of failure?

Who defines “me”? Family demands? Peer pressure? Work environment? Social environment? Professional expectations? Academic pursuits? Athletic expectations? Money? Power? Lifestyle?

In most of our lives there are “major defining factors” and “minor defining factors.” A “major defining factor” is always essential regardless of the situation, even when stressful circumstances are full of potential consequences. “Minor defining factors” are essential if the situation is a typical circumstance, but not a stressful circumstance.

Question: which is God? A “major defining factor” or “a minor defining factor”?

In some southern environments, a person is expected to be intensely involved in a spiritual commitment. In other regions, such involvement is looked upon as unhealthy. Religion should be a part of life, but it should not be taken so seriously. In other regions, the healthiest life is the non-religious life. A person should enjoy and experience the moment of now. In other regions, religion is viewed as a fanatical attempt either to cope with the undesirable in life or to escape responsibility.

What role does God occupy in defining “who I am”? How do I place God in that role? Is it simply a matter of “going to church”? Of attending classes? Of performing expected behaviors? Of reading my Bible and praying? Of helping a ministry? Of allowing God to define “who I am” and “what life is about”?

To seek self-definition apart from God is to walk in the darkness of futility. To seek self-definition through God is to walk in the light of self-discovery. Be a person who belongs to God’s household!

Seeing This World As God Does – Part 1

Posted by David on October 10, 2004 under Sermons

The declared purpose of this congregation is “making disciples for Jesus who are eager to serve others.” Basically a disciple is the follower of a teacher. A disciple knows and is not ashamed to acknowledge his or her ignorance. Religiously, the objective of a disciple is to destroy his or her ignorance about the purpose of life in order to learn how to live.

The elders have encouraged us to personally adopt five (5) goals as we pursue the purpose of making disciples for Jesus who are eager to serve others. One of those personal goals is this: we proclaim and live by a biblical world view.

What is that? What is a biblical world view? That is a complex, complicated goal. It is a good, godly, worthy goal. However, it is a complicated goal. To simplify that goal without compromising the objective of the goal, I would state it this way: “I am dedicated to learning how to look at everything in life and this world as God looks at it.” How does God look at being single? How does God look at marriage? How does God look at being a wife? How does God look at being a husband? How does God look at being a mother? How does God look at being a father? How does good look at having a job? How does God look at love? How does God look at loyalty? How does God look at truthfulness? How does God look at honesty? How does God define godliness? How does God define sin?

When we talk about a biblical world view, we are talking about how God looks at everything that occurs in life in this world–not just about how God looks at “church.” Nothing is off limits! We literally are talking about how God looks at each thing that occurs in our lives.

We can respond by saying, “Just read the Bible. It is by knowing the Bible that we will discover and develop a biblical world view.” I certainly agree! Yet, I also understand that it is not as simple as that statement makes it sound. The first major challenge we encounter is distinguishing between the times (historically) and the message (God’s ways). If you are tempted to think this challenge is real simple, let me give you a couple of examples.

Example one: from Genesis into Acts, the sacrificial system was a prominent part of worship. Cain and Abel offered sacrifices when they worshipped. Noah offered sacrifices when he left the ark. The tabernacle was the site of sacrificial worship. Later, the temple was the site of sacrificial worship. When Jesus was presented as a baby at the temple, sacrifices were offered for him (Luke 2:22-24). When the 3000 were baptized in Acts 2, they went to the temple every day (Acts 2:46). The apostles went to the temple (Acts 3). Paul, at the request of the Jerusalem elders, took four men to the temple to take a vow and paid for the offering of a sacrifice for each one of them (Acts 21:17-26). This same Paul said we were to offer our bodies as a “living and holy sacrifice” (Romans 12:1,2). Jesus is presented to us as our sacrifice (Hebrews 13:11-13). Christians exist to be God’s spiritual house (temple) to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). What role does the offering of sacrifices serve in Christian existence?

Example two: Matthew 26:30 states they concluded the occasion when the Lord’s Supper was instituted by singing a hymn before leaving for the Mount of Olives. Should we accept that as an example of the way to conclude communion? My understanding is this is the way the Passover meal was concluded. Is this the conclusion of the Passover meal, the conclusion of communion, or the conclusion of both? Should we look at it as an example?

Too often people have oversimplified the challenge of separating first century culture from the eternal message of God.

1. At the core of a biblical world view is the living, creator God.
   1. The Bible begins (Genesis 1) with the living Creator God bringing life in this world into existence.
      1. Immediately scripture declares that if we are to accept a biblical world view, we must look at ourselves as the product of the creator God.
         1. We are not the result of chance or an accident.
         2. We are the result of intelligence using incredible power.
      2. If we are nothing more than the result of accidental happenings, our purpose becomes purely selfish.
         1. If we are the result of chance happenings, we have every reason to be selfish.
         2. If we are the result of nothing more than coincidences, we have no real reason to be moral in conduct or ethical in decisions.
         3. If everything that exists, exists only as a series of opportune accidents, nothing has been lost, and there is nothing to regain.

2. One of the ancient questions in human existence is this: did humanity make God or did God make humanity?
   1. If you think this is a modern question asked only in the relatively recent past by science and philosophy, consider some readings. The first I call to your attention is found in Isaiah 44:6-20.
      “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'” Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame. The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.” They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
      1. Isaiah writing in the voice of God declares that the entire concept of idolatry is too ridiculous to be taken seriously.
      2. If one compares the concept of god in idolatry in contrast to the reality of God the Creator, he or she is struck by how little they have in common.
      3. In the idolatrous concept of god:
         1. Divinity is disinterested in humanity.
         2. Divinity has its own set of diversions that gods pursue, and being interested in human affairs is not one of those diversions.
         3. Humans must get the gods’ attention before the gods will get involved in human affairs.
         4. Even when humans succeed in getting the gods’ attention, the gods can do more to hurt you than help you.
         5. Thus the concept of worship is humoring the gods to keep them happy.
      4. In the Creator God:
         1. The Creator God is always interested in people because (1) they exist by His decision and action and (2) people originally were made in His image and likeness.
         2. God is never distracted from the realities of human existence.
         3. Humans do not have to get the Creator God’s attention, but the creator God seeks to get humans’ attention.
         4. The Creator God is a source of help and strength to humans.
         5. The objective of worship is to declare faith in, dependence on, and appreciation of the Creator God.
      5. The idea of taking a piece of wood, making a fire to warm yourself and using the fire to cook your food, and then taking to remainder of the wood to fashion a voiceless, powerless image you call god and call upon it for deliverance is totally foreign to the concept of the living God Who creates.
   2. A second reading I call to your attention is found in Jeremiah 10:1-11.
      Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, “Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. “They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.” There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. But they are altogether stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion–their idol is wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Violet and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skilled men. But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
      1. An enormous problem through the centuries is found in people being afraid of things that are not gods, that do not exist, and that neither hurt nor help people.
      2. Jeremiah observes that idols are just a piece of wood taken out of the forest.
      3. They were made by people who crafted them.
      4. They are clothed and decorated by people.
      5. They are fastened down by people.
      6. They are transported by people.
      7. These gods exist because people made them.
      8. Not so with the Creator God–He exists if no one acknowledges his existence.
   3. Allow me to share one more brief reading with you.
      Joshua 24:2,14-15 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
      1. If anyone ever had reason to place confidence in the Creator God, the people of ancient Israel did–the Creator God delivered them from slavery and brought them into existence as a nation.
      2. Our reading is part of a speech Joshua gave Israel late in his life.
         1. “Your ancestors worshipped idols–the gods beyond the river.”
         2. “You face an immediate choice: will you worship idols from your past, or will you worship the Creator God?”
         3. “If your choice is to worship idols, pick any god you choose; it does not matter and will make no real difference.”
         4. “But my family has made our choice–we will honor the Creator God who brought us into existence.”

3. A biblical world view includes a correct concept of the Creator God because we can correctly understand ourselves only through a correct understanding of the Creator God.
   1. I call your attention to two facts.
      1. When Paul spoke to a highly idolatrous, elite group in Athens at the Areopagus, Paul began with a correct view of the Creator God.
         Acts 17:23-31 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
      2. The second point is this: the reason as Christians we seek re-creation in Christ is because we were made aware of what we lost in our original creation, and we want to move in the direction of what God made.
   2. However, it is only what the Creator God did for us in Jesus Christ that permits us to be re-created as His people (see Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:10, 11).

The accuracy of the way you view the Creator God will determine the role you give Jesus Christ in your life.