Proclaiming a Biblical Worldview – Part 1

Posted by Chris on October 10, 2004 under Sermons

Our purpose as the West-Ark Church of Christ is to "Make Disciples for Jesus Eager to Serve Others." That means that all of us are called to be disciples as well as make disciples. There are five values or qualitative goals that we strive for in everything we do as a congregation. The first is that we will focus daily on Jesus and his cross. The second is that in every way possible we want to proclaim a biblical worldview. Proclaiming a biblical worldview, however, assumes that we, as disciples, have a biblical worldview. And this of course raises the question, "What is a worldview?"

Definition of Worldview – A worldview is the composite set of presuppositions, beliefs, and values a person possesses that shape how he or she sees reality and determines how he or she will act. A worldview informs the way a person thinks and acts. It is the lens through which people perceive and understand reality.

• Everyone has a worldview that determines how he/she sees, perceives, and understands life. Not all people are able to articulate all or even some elements of their worldview. (Worldviews may be embedded).

• A worldview is, by its nature, comprehensive. That is, it covers all aspects of life, both internal and external. It influences thought and action. It involves mind, body, and spirit and it involves every dimension of life – i.e. the entire "world"

• Culture and environment contribute to the formation of worldview. That contribution can be deliberate (intentional) or embedded.

A person’s worldview can be changed into a different worldview. Christians/disciples should desire to have their worldview transformed into a biblical worldview. The revelation of God through his word and through Jesus Christ deliberately seeks to shape our worldview. [This is why focusing on Jesus and his Cross is more that a meditative exercise – it is a transforming event. See last week’s sermon]

Demonstration of Worldview and Differences in Worldview – One of the ways we sometimes become aware of this concept of worldview is by encountering very different worldviews. Some years ago my wife and I were in London. We were waiting to get into the theatre and when tickets were available there were three of us and only two tickets. So my wife and sister-in-law got to go into the theatre and I waited for them. I walked around the town and spent some time with individuals who have a very different worldview. I met a young man named Stephen from Scotland who really didn’t appear all that different from some of my friends in Scotland, but Stephen lived on the streets of London. As we walked through London I noticed how very different my worldview was from his. In London they have public restrooms that you have to pay to use. When we went past a public restroom he was about to jump the turnstile to enter. The attendant was shouting at Stephen. I took out a handful of change saying, "Wait, I can pay for this." Now Stephen shouted, "Hey don’t waste that money on the loo." He grabbed the change and jumped the turnstile going into the restroom with the attendant shouting.

All of that did not fit my worldview. First, that one should have to pay to use the restroom. Second, that what was pocket change to me was a treasured resource to Stephen and not to be wasted when stealing or breaking the rules was convenient.

But you do not have to go to another nation or culture to experience these differences in worldview. David Chadwell pointed out in his sermon last week that there are different worldviews in tension in our own culture. Some of us have a basic assumption or at least can recall when institutions like government were held in high regard and trusted. But for some of us, we have never known a time when government was not under suspicion. Some of us remember when credit was rare and jobs were even rarer. Some of us have never known anything but great prosperity in our nation. Different experiences like these shape different worldviews. But there are also forces at work that create major shifts in worldview. This goes beyond personal worldview and involves cultural or collective worldviews, which of course affect all of us individually.

We are experiencing in our culture the tension, or shifting, from one predominant worldview to another. The two worldviews in tension are the modern worldview and the postmodern worldview. The "modern" worldview is not all that modern. It developed in the Western world throughout the 17^th century and remained current through the 20^th century. You may read about the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment period. This is the context in which the Modern worldview develops.

This worldview is based on four "pillars" that were major shifts from the pre-Modern worldview before the age of reason:

1. Nature and reality can be explained apart from God. Since reason and investigation could explain the natural process of the world around us, God is no longer necessary as an explanation for reality. That’s not to say all scientists since the age of reason are atheists. No, some scientists and philosophers attempted to make a reasonable case for the existence of God. We can’t go into all the history, but just understand that with the modern worldview the possibility of understanding reality apart from God is now quite real. The classic example of this involves astronomer Pierre Simon de la Place (1749 – 1827). He presented his book on celestial mechanics to Emperor Napoleon who remarked "I find it strange that in your entire work you make no reference to God." Pierre Simon de la Place replied, "Sire, I no longer have need of that hypothesis."
2. Scientific Knowledge is inherently good. We are better off because of scientific advancement. Every advance in science improves the quality of life. The Modern worldview has an optimistic outlook on better living through scientific advancement.
3. Reason is the Basis of Morality. Rather than an external standard of right and wrong, sin and righteousness, morality was defended as being expedient or reasonable. Lack of character or morality was not a spiritual deficiency but a lack of knowledge. The solution was more education. Moral problems could be solved with the application of reason.
4. Human Progress is Inevitable. The modern worldview has a high view of human nature and potential. There is an optimism about overcoming social and political problems. (Star Trek future)

During the 20^th century and into this century we are recognizing more and more that the modern worldview is giving way to the postmodern worldview. Under the weight of experience the limits of the pillars of the modern worldview were collapsed …

1. The postmodern worldview accepts the possibility of God or gods. This is not just true in religion, but also philosophy and science. There is the allowance that there is more to the universe than all we can perceive or experience. (But note that this doesn’t always equate to the Christian view of God!)
2. Scientific knowledge may be used for good or evil. Think about the incredible advances in science during the 20^th century. Atomic power, information technology, genetics. Our experience has taught us that there is no guarantee that these developments are inherently good. They may bring benefit, but they may also create disaster. It all depends on how they are used.
3. Individual is basis of morality. Reason was never a very good basis of morality. That’s not to say that morality is unreasonable. But restricting morality to reason deprived morality and ethics of its spiritual and divine elements and now the door is wide open to all standards of morality. There just isn’t any agreement anymore and morality is seen as relative. My moral base may not be reasonable to you – but it is mine and it is not yours to judge. The modern worldview made reason the only absolute but it couldn’t hold the title – now the "king" has been knocked off the hill.
4. Humanity has failed to eradicate so many social and political problems. We have been humbled and we are no longer optimistic about human progress. World War 1 really destroyed this pillar. Then World War 2 finished off the remains. Now there is pessimisim about the future of humanity (Sci-Fi dystopias)

It is hard to describe what the Postmodern worldview is really about. Mainly, it just isn’t modern!

One creative way to describe the change is to say that if the Modern worldview viewed the world scientifically through the lens of the microscope and telescope, the postmodern worldview views it through a kaleidoscope – a random, multi-colored, ever-shifting image that looks different to everyone who picks up the scope.
Which worldview is best? Neither, they are both limited and they represent the major worldview we find ourselves in. Since they are limited they are subject to shifting and change.

The real question is: "Why does any of this matter?" Does my worldview matter? I think it matters because as disciples of Jesus Christ we need to know that our worldview is not dependent on the reigning worldview of our culture or age. Our faith is not dependent on the Modern worldview. It will not die in the postmodern worldview. We have a worldview that endures through every shift and change in cultural worldview …

In the midst of confusion or concern over what we shall do we can develop a worldview that is consistent with Christ and the revelation of God through Spirit and Word. In other words a Biblical Worldview. And it matters because if God’s enduring revelation shapes our worldview then it shapes our belief. And our belief leads to proper practice and healthy identity.

Christianity and Judaism are unique in that they call for the right belief (orthodoxy) assuming that the right belief with shape the proper behavior and practice (orthopraxy). In fact, God often criticizes Israel, as Jesus did the Pharisees, for practicing religion right without believing right (hypocrisy, white-washed sepulchers)

Israel and the Worldview of God
Deuteronomy 6 Belief in the one true God was the basis for whole devotion. The worldview of Israel was critical to their behavior and their identity.

Once the Gentiles were gathered into Israel after Jesus, the importance of worldview was even greater.

1. In worship – in the presence of the One God that Israel declared, the One God that has revealed himself in Jesus Christ – in worship we offer our whole self. We are being shaped by God’s view of the world. And that "changes our mind" …
2. Renewal – that’s what we do in worship as we come together in worship. Transformation of mind/belief from the pattern of this world to a renewed worldview. And it doesn’t end in worship – it continues to our life among the different worldviews. It continues as a pinpoint of light in our kaleidoscope world. We need to continue to hear the "Shema" to Israel. Jesus said it was the core of a biblical worldview. And it shapes our actions so that they are conformed to God’s will …
3. Is change/transformation of mind really that important? We need to be aware just how little what we say we believe agrees with the world as understood by science and technology, commerce, law, politics, or the arts – or the world as it is understood by many of our neighbors. Think about it! Jesus says that the core of law and prophets, the greatest commandment is to love God and neighbor – to commit so completely to God that we live as very different people. That’s not necessarily the worldview of our culture. Proclaiming a biblical worldview is counter-cultural. So, to what worldview do we conform? The renewal of our mind allows us to know God’s will. But if our minds are not renewed, we do not. What worldview do we have? That’s the worldview we will proclaim

How important is this? – Barmen -living differently with a different View of reality can have serious implications
Almost immediately after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Protestant Christians faced pressure to conform the Church to the ideology of Hitler and the Nazi Party, this included expulsion of Jewish Christians from the ordained ministry and adopting the Nazi “Führer Principle” as the organizing principle of church government. In general, the churches succumbed to these pressures, and many Christians embraced them willingly. The pro-Nazi “German Christian” movement became a force in the church. They glorified Adolf Hitler as a “German prophet” and preached that racial consciousness (Volk) was a source of revelation alongside the Bible.

But some Christians in Germany opposed the encroachment of Nazi ideology on the Church’s proclamation. At Barmen, this emerging “Confessing Church” adopted a declaration drafted by which expressly repudiated the claim that other powers apart from Christ could be sources of God’s revelation. The 1934 Barmen Declaration was a call to resistance against the theological claims of the Nazi state.

excerpt from Barmen Declaration …

IN VIEW OF THE ERRORS of the “German Christians” … we confess the following evangelical truths:
1. “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

We reject the false doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, . . . other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God’s revelation.

In Nazi Germany, the German Church accepted National Socialism. Their focus was on what they did – not on what they believed. They even took as their symbol the cross with a swastika in it.

“German Christians” (Deutsche Christen) marched to a worship service at the Berlin Cathedral while SS guards stood at attention. At the lead were members of the movement in uniforms, followed by pastors. Their banners –designed to resemble the Nazi party’s “national flag”– placed the swastika at the center of the cross.

But the confessing church dissented. Some Christians who dissented –like the Protestant pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Roman Catholic priest Bernhard Lichtenberg– were arrested and executed in concentration camps. They did something very different why? Because of what they believed vs. what the German Church believed. Because those different beliefs and worldviews shaped what people did and what the German Church was doing was dangerous. In one worldview, Christ alone rules. In another, the swastika blots out the center of the cross.

This story of what happened in Germany of the 1930’s may seem a bit extreme to us. But next week I want to show you why a Biblical Worldview and our proclamation of such a world view matters just as much to us – right here in Western Arkansas in the early 21^st century.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 10 October 2004

Purpose in Confusion

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

1 Corinthians 9:23, “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

The first century world was confusing for the person who dared to be a Christian. In a hostile place, the constant threat of physical abuse loomed–with no one to come to your aid. In pagan society, many things were outside Christian existence that previously were part of daily life. In pagan society (even matters that we would classify as political), events included (often prominently) honoring a god or goddess. In Jewish society, acceptance of Jesus as the Christ increasingly was regarded as the act of a traitor against Judaism. Opportunities for being misunderstood were enormous!

It was rather common in pagan society to exploit weak people, to get drunk, to engage in sexual acts outside of marriage, to sexually violate marriages, or to be self indulgent in numerous ways. A Christian converted from paganism did not fit in pagan societies!

It was common in Jewish society to take advantage of the defenseless, to use religion as a means of control, to get angry with those who disagreed, or to hurt those who were a perceived threat. A Christian devoted to God’s holiness did not fit!

Almost every relationship was complicated through conversion to Jesus Christ. Christian slaves were to act differently toward owners (1 Peter 2:18-21). Christian owners were to treat slaves with a kindness that did not threaten (Ephesians 6:9; Philemon). Imagine the changes and confusion when one spouse in a pagan marriage became a Christian! The challenge: demonstrate through behavior that conversion to Christ makes a person better, not worse (1Timothy 2:1-4). Public opinion declared conversion to Christ made people worse: slave, masters, wives, husbands, citizens, laborers! The only way Christians could change public opinion was for their behavior to defy common expectations. That is a hard and harsh demand!

Today’s American Christian lives in an increasingly complex situation. Our society has become steadily self-indulgent. A common tactic used in advertising is, “You are worth it!” Selfishness often transforms itself into entitlement. “What is in it for me?” are many people’s priority consideration. Personal feelings are an important measurement of validity. We so value “feel good” and “fun” that the world easily could conclude Americans believe that “feeling good” and “having fun” is life’s purpose.

Too often the Christian man or woman finds himself or herself asking questions about “me.” “Who am I?” “What is my purpose?” “Is the moment all that is important in my life?” “Can anything that is truly good cause pain?” “Can anything that brings me pleasure be truly evil?” “Should I permit other people to decide the meaning and the worth of my life?” Perhaps those are easily answered in theory for others, but they are hard questions when one is personally confronting difficult circumstances.

No matter how confusing your personal world is, allow no one but God to teach you who you are. Life in this society may be confusing, but purpose is found in Jesus’ cross.

God and the Cross Are Still There

Posted by David on October 3, 2004 under Sermons

For a moment, let me take you back to the months preceding the Babylonian captivity of Israel in the latter part of the Old Testament.

First, I call to your attention physical conditions. The Jewish people were living a secure, good life. The temple Solomon built was standing in Jerusalem. The priests were doing “the right things” in “the right way” as they conducted sacrificial worship. Business was great! Money flowed and people lived “the good life.” Situations were so prosperous and opportunities for business so abundant that successful people struggled to endure “doing nothing” on the Sabbath. They could not wait for the Sabbath to be over so they could get back to making money. It was increasingly profitable to be dishonest. Lying and cheating were just a part of “doing business.” The more they made they more they wanted to make. Life’s number one priority was to support a good lifestyle. As far as they were concerned, they had a powerful king who successfully made good alliances. Life was good, and nothing was going to change that!

Second, I call your attention to the prophets. Basically, there were two kinds. The first kind told people what they wanted to hear. “Life is good! Life will continue to be good! God is happy with us the way things are! Anyone who tells you differently is a liar! Nothing will change!” The second kind told people everything they enjoyed was coming to an abrupt end. “Jerusalem will fall! The temple will be destroyed! Your “correct” worship makes God sick! Your personal values are totally distorted! You love things and use people! Soon you will be slaves and your ‘good life’ will be just a memory.” These prophets were deeply resented by the leaders, the king, and those who lived the “good life.”

Third, I call your attention to what happened. Jerusalem fell. Their powerful alliances with other nations proved ineffective. The temple was looted and destroyed. The priest had nowhere to conduct sacrificial worship. Starting with the powerful and the influential, the surviving Jewish people became slaves. The more they tried to improve conditions, the worse conditions became.

Fourth, I call your attention to the question. The question: “What happened?” That question was expressed in many ways. “How could God let this happen to us?” “How could God let His temple be destroyed?” “Did not God know the priest would not have a place to offer sacrifices?” “How could God desert His people and let them suffer such deplorable conditions?” “Sure, we made a lot of mistakes and did a lot of things wrong, but we are not as evil as the people who conquered us. How could God let people who are more wicked than we are destroy us?”

Listen to a comment made by Paul to the Christians at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 10:1-6 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

My paraphrase of Paul’s point would be this: “Never think that God has so much invested in us that He will ignore the evil of rebellion.”

Last week Joyce and I visited the San Francisco area.
1. We had a wonderful time for many reasons.
   1. The temperatures were wonderful, and the sun shone every day.
   2. The flowers were breath-taking.
   3. Seeing family and friends again was wonderful.
   4. And we also thoroughly enjoyed playing tourist again.
   5. People were friendly and helpful everywhere we went.
2. But as is true with me virtually everywhere I visit, there were some things that captured my attention and overwhelmed me.
   1. There were some things that overwhelmed me with the church.
      1. Joyce and I visited that area seven years ago, and on this visit we worshipped with the same congregation.
      2. Seven years ago there were two congregations within a mile of each other; now there is one (I have no comment to make on what that means because I do not know the circumstances).
      3. Because of difficulty locating our bus, we were a little late for Bible class.
         1. We were graciously welcomed (this is a very friendly congregation!).
         2. We went to the auditorium class (the auditorium seats approximately 500 people) to join four (4) people in Bible study; last time the auditorium was about 1/3 full for class.
         3. For worship, the auditorium was approximately 1/3 full with the majority of people assembled above retirement age; on our last visit it was well over 1/2 full with a more diverse mixture of ages.
      4. These observations are in no way intended as a judgmental evaluation (and they may not even be an accurate assessment), but merely an observation that changes are visible in our culture and in the church.
1. To me, there are two major, visible groups within the church: those who see our world through the eyes of loyalty to an institution, and those who regard institutions as dangerous.
   1. First, consider Christians who view our culture primarily through eyes of loyalty to institutions (which likely includes at least 50% of those assembled here this evening).
      1. Consider the institutional view of the world:
         1. Bottom line: “people should respect authority.”
         2. Government may go in the wrong direction, but people must respect the government as an institution.
         3. A corporation may be misguided, but people must show loyalty to a corporation (don’t bite the hand that feeds you).
         4. Marriage should be preserved even if you are miserable in your marriage because you need to preserve the institution of the home.
         5. The church needs to be respected and supported as an institution; do nothing that would weaken the institution.
      2. There was a time when institutions were basically good, were basically people focused, and basically had the best interest of people at heart.
         1. When World War II began, there was no exodus to Canada to avoid the draft.
         2. If the government said it, it was to be obeyed and trusted.
         3. A person could spend his entire work life with one company and retire with confidence that the company would take care of him.
         4. No matter how bad a marriage was, rarely would divorce occur.
         5. Whatever it took to protect the institution of the church, you did it; faith in Jesus Christ could not and must not be separated from the institutional aspects of the church.
   2. Do you realize that Christians under the age of 40 never consciously lived in a period of time when institutions were good?
      1. Just think about it.
         1. The older of them remember the Watergate break-in (1972), the resignation of Spiro Agnew (73), and the resignation of Richard Nixon (74).
         2. Their war of reference is Vietnam, not World War II–and they remember that war in critical views.
         3. Their parents lived through the collapse of some of the great corporations (like the telephone company) at a time when jobs stopped existing for a lifetime.
         4. Their skepticism became cynicism with fiascoes like Enron when corporate greed ruined the lives of many people.
         5. Whereas their grandparents endured almost any degree of dysfunction in marriages or any abuse or neglect in a home, their parents would not tolerate suffering in a marriage or home–so the divorce rate rose and many of them were children in single-parent families or blended families.
         6. The combination of birth control becoming easily available and the hurt of failed homes made living together arrangements attractive.
         7. The decline of Christian morals and values in the American society reinterpreted the understanding of what was acceptable and good.
         8. They have seen all the divisions in the church, all the control tactics in congregations, and all the stances that were more about theological issues than about God’s interaction with people.
            1. They have seen the suffering caused in the name of “being faithful to the church.”
            2. They have seen the ungodly attitudes in the power plays in the church.
            3. They have witnessed godly men and women subjected to hurt.
            4. Often to them the institutional aspects of today’s church are a symbol of what is wrong with the church.
      2. To many of those under 40, institutions are the symbol of all that is wrong and dangerous in our culture and in our world.
         1. This group is looking for meaningful relationships–which have been in short supply in their life experiences.
         2. Their concept of relationship and the institutional concept of relationship are distinctly different.

2. I want you to consider two of Jesus’ concepts and make one point from each.
   1. Begin by considering this understanding:
      1. Jesus was not what the Jews expected–they regarded a crucified King over a spiritual kingdom as too ridiculous to be seriously considered, and the first century Jewish nation was more isolationist and institutional than we ever dreamed of being.
      2. The pagan environment of the first century world was horrible by Christian standards–homosexual affairs, adulterous affairs, and divorce laden, drunkenness, exploitation of people. Paganism regarded a resurrected Savior and living for a world to come as stupid. They also were very institutional in focus.
      3. These two thoughts from Jesus were extremely unpopular concepts in the first century world, a world that respected power and control.
   2. First, I call your attention to a parable given to help explain the nature of God’s kingdom. It was embedded in a series of parables that illustrated the nature of the kingdom God was to establish–Matthew 13:33.
      He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
      1. The kingdom will spread by contagion.
      2. It will not be quick, but it will be steady.
      3. Point: if the kingdom is to achieve God’s purposes, there is no substitute for Jesus’ cross and God being the focus of the Christian’s personal life.
         1. It is not a matter of the success of the institution.
         2. It is a matter of the personal commitment of the individual.
   3. Second, I call your attention to a parable in this same set of parables on the nature of the kingdom–Matthew 13:47-50.
      Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
      1. The kingdom will contain all kinds of people–any “fish” can be caught by the “net.”
      2. The “sorting” is God’s responsibility, not ours.
      3. Point: the church will never be “perfect” on this earth–that is the reason there will be a “sorting” in judgment.
         1. God did not give us the mission of “keeping the church pure.”
         2. God gave us the mission (1) of personally belonging to Christ and (2) calling others to Christ.

All of us have seen unthinkable changes in this society and culture in the last 60 years. Things those of us above 50 regarded as permanent were clearly not permanent. Now change is occurring more rapidly than ever.

Most of us will live to witness and experience changes we never thought could occur. It is possible many of us will live to see a time when the American church is no longer an institution with buildings, and property, and the structure many are so familiar with today. That is not a prediction, but a statement of possibility.

If what we consider the unthinkable occurs, we desperately need to remember one thing: the cross of Jesus and God still exist. Our faith is in Jesus’ sacrifice and God, not an institution. Our hope is in Jesus’ death and God’s resurrection. No change will ever remove that if it is the focus of our personal existence.

Daily Focusing on Jesus and the Cross – Part 2

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

I want to begin by sharing with you some sad and disappointing information about a certaincongregation of the Lord’s church. I won’t name the congregation, but it is one that most of uswould know …
This congregation in danger going through a major split. Some of the reasons for the split concerncontroversies over worship. Divisions within the membership are playing out in the worship andsome are introducing disruptive practices into the worship. Others are altering the practice of theLord’s Supper.
Of course the problems go beyond worship. There are doctrinal controversies. Some of theleaders in this congregation have been advancing unbiblical views of baptism. The doctrinalcontroversies are closely associated with moral controversies. The congregation has becomewoefully tolerant of certain forms of sexual immorality and their teaching on divorce and marriageis not consistent with biblical teaching.
As one might expect, such a congregation is suffering from people who are separating intofactions. These factions are centered around the teaching and ministries of well-known teachers inthe brotherhood. This conflict is threatening to tear this highly visible congregation asunder.

Perhaps it is best that you know the name of the congregation I am speaking about. The church Ihave described is the first-century church in Corinth. We know about it from Paul’s letters. Paulheard about the problems in this congregation from those who were a part of it. In fact, he wasone of the well-known teachers who had a following in this church (and Paul was not supportiveof it). The root of the problem in the Corinthian church was their attempt to adopt and conform toexpectations of their world. Paul’s prescription for the ailing church in danger of destroying itselfin its attempts to conform to the accepted wisdom of the day is to return their focus to Jesus andthe cross. The Word of the Cross gave the Corinthian congregation life and Paul hopes that thepower of the word of the cross will not electrocute the church, but that it will shock their spiritualheart back to life …

1 Corinthians 1:18-31
The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved itis the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence ofthe intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is thephilosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in thewisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him God was pleased through thefoolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs andGreeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews andfoolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ thepower of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom,and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Consider your own call, brothers andsisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many wereof noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose theweak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and thedespised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one mayboast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdomfrom God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Letthe one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

The Word of The Cross

1. It is foolishness to those who are perishing(1:18)
   1. It “thwarts” established assumptions – It thwarts our understanding and assumptions. Itnullifies the wisdom of this world. It confounds our best understanding and greatest achievements(Just as God did at Babel — Genesis 11). It sets aside our pretensions and our expectationsbecause they are often flawed and imperfect. And because of this …
   2. It is counterintuitive to our way of knowing the world. Thus, those who are invested in worldlywisdom do not understand the cross. The cross is too risky. It says that those who lose their livesgain it — that is counterintuitive to a world that believes in “survival of the fittest.” The cross istoo humiliating. It says that the greatest is the servant of all and the least shall be first — that iscounter-intuitive to a world that believes that “might makes right” and that it is not “what youknow but who you know.” And those are just some of the ways the Word of the Cross thwartsour knowledge, but it can also upset our deep-seated, gut-level, spiritual convictions …
   3. It also confounds our sensitivities and assumptions. We like to think that God should onlybehave in certain ways, but the Cross shows us that our mysterious God will not be defined byour expectations …
2. To those who want signs and wisdom … (1:22-23)
   1. It is scandalous and offensive — Paul said that Jews demand signs. They want spiritual proof.They believed that the Messiah should come in a display of divine authority, not weakness andshamefulness. God is shamed and defiled? He endures a curse? What will the gentiles think? Butthe cross is not politically correct, it is brutal and not cleaned up. The cross does not conform toour religious sensibilities. When Mel Gibson set out to make The Passion of the Christ, he wasdedicated to being as honest with the scandalous and offensive nature of the crucifixion. Andguess what, people were offended! Not just those who decried it as anti-Semitic, but alsoChristians who believed the display was too gory. For those reasons and many more we mustrecall that the word of the cross is indeed scandalous — a stumbling block. It forces a decision foror against God and his way of salvation. At times the Word of the Cross and the implications ofthat word confront our religious sensibilities and make us decide …
   2. It is moronic and foolish — Paul said the Greeks demand wisdom. They wanted logical proof.They believed in certain categories and criteria and God in Jesus did not fit those. Why wouldGod die? Why would he sacrifice himself to save others? How can the death of a man condemnedas a rebel and bandit save the world? Why do we need saving? Alexandros graffiti – Christianitywas not understood in the first-century. It was viewed as a religion for reprobates and lowerclasses. It was ridiculed.
      
      “Alexandros worships his god”
      First century Roman graffiti.
      Click here to view photo.

   3. In recent times there are many who believe that Christianity is a religion for the unlearned andweak-minded. [Karl Marx — Religion is the Opiate of the masses.] We drain the power from thecross and our gospel when we try to conform it to science or philosophy or the prevailing wisdomof our culture. That doesn’t mean that our faith is unscientific or non-philosophical or that itdoesn’t dialogue with culture — but it does mean that the Word of the Cross tests science andphilosophy and culture, not the other way around …
3. To those being saved it is the power of God (1:18)
   1. It has the power to destroy other powers. The word of the cross reveals something thatshakes the foundations of all other powers. It proclaims and represents a God doing something sounique that every influential power and principle is redefined.
   2. It has the power to create new reality It is redefined because a new reality is created. It hasthe power to transform not only us as individuals — but the world as we know it. All systems ofpower, all structures of relationship, all ways of thinking … And the Word of the Cross recreatesall over again the “new world” created by the event. For like all words …
   3. Words have that power to create and destroy and recreate.
      1. The words “It is terminal” can change life
      2. You’re fired” — (trivialized on Apprentice — it just means you are off the show) — thesewords can change reality for someone
   4. How is it power? It is an apocalyptic event —
      1. Nothing is the same now that this has happened.
      2. There is rhetoric about the political shifts due to 9/11. It has become a decisive event — pre9/11 and post 9/11.
      3. Is it any wonder why our calendar systems used BC and AD — a new rule is in effect!

   The Word of the cross like all words has a power to change — but the word of the cross is notbound by our definitions … in fact it confounds and unsettles the definitions we think are soimportant and so stable …

4. It redefines everything
   1. Our past and future: The Corinthians needed to look back at who they were when God calledthem. It is God’s modus operandi to work with those we overlook and reject in our earthlywisdom. Why do we let our past define us when the word of the cross redefines our past? Whoamong us can truly secure our future? All the best planning and work can be undone in seconds.What wisdom secures the perfect future? Why do we let our efforts for the future define us whenthe word of the cross defines our future?
   2. Our worth and identity: The Corinthians were divided. They were finding their identity inhuman leaders and the acceptable things of this world. Their identity was based on theirphilosophies. What about our divisions and categories? [In 1832, Racoon John Smith proposedunity between the Campbell churches and the Stone churches. Mentioning some of the terms andissues that divided them he said, “Let us then, my brethren, be no longer Campbellites orStoneites, New Lights or Old Lights, or any other kind of lights. But let us come to the Bible andthe Bible alone, as the only book in creation that can give us all the Light we need.”] But nowalmost 200 years later, what terms separate us? Is that the Word of the Cross? What about ourbackgrounds and our status? What makes us wise? What gives us power? On what basis do wefind unity — The Mac Pruitt story — There’s a VP at Dow come to visit a union man — Thosewho are being saved have a worth and identity that seems foolish to the world.
   3. Our values and allegiances: Those who are being saved have allegiance to God even when itis risky and seems foolish.
      1. Carl Spain — race and ACU’s policy not to admit African American students pre 1961 — “Dowe fear Jim Crow more than we revere Jesus Christ?”
      2. Jim Elliot — Through the Gates of Splendor “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannotkeep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Having the Mind of Christ (see Jeremiah 9:23-24)
“Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in hisriches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORDwho is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things.” — Jeremiah9:23-24

Believing in the Word of the cross is the first challenge. But conforming to it and living it out isthe greater challenge. Accepting the very different Word of the Cross is the first challenge, havingthat mind of Christ is the next challenge — and both require the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

The Tightrope Walker — A man walked a tightrope across a windy ravine very slowly but madeit. People gathered around and that tightrope walker asked the crowd, “Do you think I can crossthe ravine again?” There was great applause and every one shouted their confidence in the man.Then he asked, “Well, who then will go with me as I carry you on my shoulders?”

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 3 October 2004

Can You Help in Cameroon?

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

In 1972-73 Eugene Elangwe was a teenager in preacher training school in Cameroon, West Africa, where I lived and taught. Now Eugene is almost 50 years old with a family of 7 children. After graduating from the preacher training school, he shared the good news of Christ with his people. Of the five students graduating in his class, only two continue to preach.

He lives in a remote area and owns no motorized transportation. Some congregations are too remote to be visited by car. In a typical month he walks 85 kilometers (51 miles) to visit congregations. The number of places with no congregation who request him to come preach is increasing. This is in addition to 13 existing congregations. He has very few books, supplies, or Bibles to use in his work. Viewed from our circumstances, he has almost nothing to use. There is a dire need for medicines and medical supplies. Eugene has witnessed friends die in situations he knows are unnecessary.

To address growing needs, he began a preacher training school which graduated its first class of 5 in September, 2003. He also directs leadership training for men in established congregations (on a regular basis). He is 203 miles from the nearest American missionary. They are able to visit about once a year. This missionary does not have the supplies to address Eugene’s needs. One American preacher goes once every year or two to teach in the preacher training school for three weeks.

For the better part of 5 years, Eugene and I have worked to find a means to supply some of the many needs around him. With the significant help of C.U.R.E., we plan to send a large shipment of medical supplies and Bible study materials (including Bibles) to Wum, Cameroon, in the near future. Dr. Fisher located the lowest possible prices for medicines and medical equipment that C.U.R.E. does not possess. Supplies C.U.R.E. has will be donated. We received the necessary government documents to assure acceptance of this shipment. Now it is a matter of gathering, packing, funding, and shipping the supplies.

How can you help??

Focus On Communion

Posted by David on September 26, 2004 under Sermons

Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

1. Yielding to God’s will often involves human struggle.
   1. God’s purposes often are accomplished at the price of human suffering.
      1. While God always seeks our highest good, in the moment of struggle we humans are often consumed by dreading our struggle instead of the good that will be produced through our struggle.
      2. Jesus the man certainly knew the price of human struggle through personal experience.
         1. He did not want to die.
         2. He did not want the responsibility of the pain in crucifixion or the responsibility of causing God’s purpose to become reality.
      3. Yet, we can easily see why Jesus succeeded where many of us often fail.
         1. While he did not wish to die, he did not let the reality of immediate pain and suffering cause him to lose his focus.
         2. He was very open and direct with God–“Let this cup pass from me.”
         3. Yet, in his openness he was totally submissive–“Your will be done.”
         4. The essential thing: God’s purposes be achieved, not his feelings be supreme.
   2. It is likely that a Christian’s moment of greatest weakness is the moment when we are tempted to place our feelings above God’s purposes.
      1. Communion celebrates the fact that Jesus did not do that.
      2. He truly understands the temptation to do that, but he did not do that.
      3. So as we eat the bread, we gratefully remember the fact that Jesus yielded to God’s purposes and glorify God for pursuing those purposes at the cost of the death of His son.

   Prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus’ body. Serve the unleavened bread.

   1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
   But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.

2. Parts of this scripture are used frequently to focus attention on the basic purposes of communion given by Jesus himself.
   1. We commonly want Christians to focus on the original nature of communion.
      1. Thus we read verses 23-26 to emphasize the early focus of communion.
      2. That certainly is not incorrect, but it often misses the problem in the church of Corinth.
         1. Some Christians were coming earlier [likely by invitation] to share in a full meal [similar to what we would call a “pot luck” meal].
         2. Some Christians were coming later [which was typical in Roman meals] to share in a partial meal.
         3. Some well-to-do Christians left drunk from eating and drinking too much.
         4. Some poor Christians left hungry having very little to eat.
      3. Remember that this letter began with Paul condemning the congregation’s division.
         1. When they gathered for communion, their gathering emphasized their division, not their oneness in Christ.
         2. Paul said, “I cannot even call what you are doing communion.”
         3. Why? The focus is not on a form problem, but a purpose problem.
         4. Their communion did not accomplish the purpose of communion. It was Satan’s purposes, not God’s purposes that were emphasized.
      4. The problem was not in the fact that communion was a meal.
         1. Jesus instituted communion at a meal.
         2. Acts 2 places emphasis on Christians eating together to affirm their oneness.
         3. The problem was not that it was a meal, but the problem was in the purpose of the meal.
            1. The purpose of this meal was not to satisfy hunger, though it did for some who were poor.
            2. The purpose of the meal was to affirm oneness in Christ.
            3. Yet, what they did was precisely opposite to one of the purposes of communion–it declared there were privileged Christians and second class Christians.
   2. In communion, there are two purposes to be met.
      1. The first is a personal remembrance of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us as individuals on Jesus’ cross.
      2. The second is a collective affirmation that we are one with all in the congregation who place their faith in Christ. [That was quite important to Christians most of whom had been rejected or abandoned by the society they left.]
      3. Communion is remembering Jesus, but it is also a declaration of unity with those who give their lives and allegiance to Jesus as the Christ.
      4. The Corinthian Christians turned a meal of remembrance and affirmation into a meal that focused on division and hunger.
         1. Paul said, “You miss one of the fundamental reasons for taking communion.”
         2. Christians should feel strengthened by communion, not discouraged by communion.
      5. When we take communion, we need to remember Jesus’ sacrifice, and we need to remember that we belong to each other because Jesus died for all of us.
      6. When you drink this fruit of the vine, remember Jesus, and remember your commitment to every person here who is with you in Christ.

   Prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus’ blood. Serve the fruit of the vine.

   Challenge and invitation.

Daily Focusing on Jesus and the Cross – Part 1.5

Posted by Chris on September 19, 2004 under Sermons

1. Once Upon a Time in America:
   1. My father’s first sermon mentioned a different sort of culture …
      1. Doors left unlocked, children played in safety. …
      2. Neighbors were close and trusted, people trusted and respected their leaders
      3. God and church were held in high esteem. (Attend the church of your choice).
   2. It is decaying:
      1. Definitions of right & wrong have been changed
      2. The Index of Cultural Indicators:
         1. Long-held beliefs are giving way to a plethora of views.
         2. Self-expression, individualism & personal choice valued above all else
      3. Every viewpoint, no matter how bizarre or destructive, is accepted.
         1. “The lunatics are running the asylum.”
   3. The props are being kicked out:
      1. Once the church and Christian values were propped up by American society
      2. We fear what will happen when the last of the props is kicked out
      3. … what will happen when the lunatics finally take over.
   4. But what were we doing in an asylum in the firstplace?
      1. Christianity has been around a lot longer than America.
      2. Christianity began without the props that we rested on so comfortably, once upona time in America.
2. Living Outside the Camp (Read Hebrews13:1-14):
   1. We must go to Jesus outside thecamp.
      1. Like the unclean carcasses of the sacrifice that were discarded outside thecamp,Jesus suffered outside the gate of the holy city.
         1. No special funeral. No eternal flame in the National Cemetery
         2. [George McDonald, Only One Way Left]: “… Jesus was not crucified ina cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, onthe town garbage heap … at the kind of place where cynics talk smut,and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble … Because that is where he diedand that is what he died about. And that is where churchman should beand what churchmanship is about.”
      2. If Jesus died outside “the city,” its absurd to think that we are can somehowremain in “the city.”
         1. Jesus did minister in the Temple, but he also ministered in the barrios &ghettos among the drunks and the prostitutes.
         2. The love of God is not restricted to the “acceptable” parts of town. Itgoes out to the places where good folk do not go after dark.
         3. Our place is by Jesus’ side, even if that takes us outside safety of the citygate
      3. Are we called to defend the city (American culture) or are we called to go out ofthe city and call others to join us?
         1. The latter. There is no “city” in this world worth defending becausenone of them are eternal.
         2. Let us lament the decay of American society, but let us not be tricked intothinking the church requires it to survive and thrive.
            1. Christianity has thrived in hostile environments inthe past andin many parts of the world.
            2. Sincere, faithful Christians remain true to their Lord incountries like the Sudan where they are persecuted.
      4. The danger of living in the city is that it makes us nearsighted instead offarsighted.
         1. Our values are reversed.
   2. We must bear His shame.
      1. The Apostles rejoiced not because they won favor with society or advancedtheirreligious/political agenda, but because they suffered shame for the Name.
         1. God was not ashamed of them, and they were not ashamed of him …
      2. Faith shines brightest in the darkness:
         1. Some of our brethren are meeting today in secret in peril of their lives.
         2. Are they less faithful than we because God has not blessed them with theprops of social acceptability?
3. Once Upon a Time in America [Conclusion]:
   1. We may have been propped up. (And it may have been a blessing of God.)
   2. But God does not promise it will always be so.
      1. In fact he says it will more often be the opposite
   3. Maybe it will actually be good for us when the last prop is finally kicked out.
      1. Maybe we will once and for all
         1. go outside the city,
         2. bearing His shame,
         3. looking ahead to the Eternal City,
         4. and letting God be our only prop!
   4. The Challenge:
      1. From the word of God.
      2. This goes beyond a personal acceptance.
      3. We must accept this challenge as a church – together!
      4. Let us all stand – and in so doing accept the challenge ofScripture to go liveoutside the camp!

Daily Focusing on Jesus and the Cross – Part 1

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Introduction: Famous speeches that precede historic moments. They focus the moment for everyone involved. They call for determination and dedication because they involve momentous decisions. And the significance of the speech lives beyond the historical moment. One famous speech that outlasts its moment in history was given on …
June 18, 1940 – Prime Minister Winston Churchill before the House of Commons anticipated the Battle of Britain. "The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour."
The words of Jesus also liven beyond their moment in history. Not only because of their importance but also because the one who spoke these words is living still as Lord. Matthew 10 is Jesus’ speech to the twelve before sending them on a mission. He focuses the moment not only for the twelve, but for all disciples who hear these words.
Read Matthew 10:16-39

Review –

• We are also sent by Jesus to participate in his mission.
• Making disciples requires being a disciple. And we make disciples for Jesus, not us.
• But there is a storm front of turbulence where the kingdom of God emerges into this world for the rule of God upsets lesser authorities and powers. The messengers of the kingdom welcome all to come to the King, but the messengers of the kingdom are not always welcomed …
• If we are to be equal to the mission in a world that is sometimes hostile and usually indifferent, then we need to be focused. Jesus’ speech focuses us on the cross. Focusing on Jesus and his cross defines the 1) Determination of Disciples, 2) Dedication of Disciples and 3) Decision of Disciples

Determination of Disciples

• I am sending you out like sheep among wolves (10:16) – – ²²And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me.
  Because we are loyal to Jesus some are just going to hate us. Not because we wish them any harm. Not because we intend them any wrong, but because we are loyal to Christ some will be threatened by that. Why? Because they have an investment in other powers and authorities.
  Determination to follow Jesus will bring us into conflict. Some people will not be interested in hearing what we have to say in our defense. Some people, even if they do listen, will twist our words and misinterpret our actions. Jesus’ does not tell us how to make it different; he says it will not be any different.
  What are we to do then?
• Don’t worry about your defense –
  • Look to the cross – Jesus spoke only the truth and was not anxious to defend himself. Why? 1) He realized that his words had already been twisted, but 2) he knew that Pilate and others had no power over him other than what God allowed. Jesus knew who was in charge – And we need to understand that too. We will if we focus on the cross.
  • Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves: Sometimes we think our role is to defend ourselves or to defend the church – it is one thing to make a positive case for Christ. It is a good thing to promote Christ when we have opportunity – "Be as shrewd as snakes."
  • But to make enemies is not our calling. To squash those we consider a threat is not our calling. "We are as innocent as doves."
  • Don’t worry – for God will let us know what to say. Really? Would you rather God write your speech or do you think you can do better. Focus on the cross and be determined that God will give the message that needs to be spoken. Don’t get anxious trying to find words to make everything better.

Dedication of Disciples

• A student is not above the teacher; a servant not above the master (10:26)
  1. What did you expect? Jesus is the head of this new household and it follows that the members of the household will face the same criticism and opposition he did.
  2. Culture is indifferent if not hostile to our beliefs. Why are we amazed? Maybe because we can remember a time when our values were supported by the culture around us? The culture held the church and Christian belief in high esteem. But somewhere along the way, somebody kicked loose the props that held the church so high and it came crashing down. Jesus says we shouldn’t be amazed at this. Rather, we should be amazed that we think we need those props and we should be ashamed when we fear losing them. We dare not coerce culture into serving us and we dare not dedicate ourselves to culture.
  3. Now, I realize it can be very frightening to leave the city behind and join Jesus on the garbage heap outside town where bandits and troublemakers are executed (Hebrews 13). The rules of our culture have changed and things we long assumed cannot be assumed. But don’t be afraid – after all, if we find ourselves betrayed and alienated, well it was like this for Jesus, and we the students will not have it any different than our teacher if we are focused on his cross …
• Look to the cross, the strength of his people was turned against Jesus. He was betrayed by his closest friends – men who were like brothers. Some of his family, his own countrymen turned against him. But he dedicated himself to God.
• Look to the cross, the power of a city – Jerusalem – was turned against him. The ruling councils and the religious authorities were so threatened by him that they poured out hate on him. But he dedicated himself to God.
• Look to the cross, the power of a nation – no, an empire – was unleashed on Jesus and he suffered the ultimate form of execution – crucifixion – the purpose of which is not simply to kill, but to humiliate and send a message that Rome is to be respected. Yet, Jesus remained dedicated to God.

• Don’t be afraid – Why?
  1. God will uncover everything – Know the truth for it wins out in the end.
  2. Only God has power over total destruction. All they can do is kill you physically – they have no power except what is given to them.
  3. God cares and will not forget you – He cares for all his creation, even cheap sparrows, and we are worth much more

If we focus daily on Jesus and his cross, we realize that most of the things we worry about are beyond our control. We need to focus our attention on our decision to take up the cross and follow him and stop letting our worries and doubts weaken our determination and our dedication. Focus on the cross and make that decision to be loyal to Christ and you will know such joy and peace that cannot be taken from you …

Decision of Disciple
Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me – 10:38
This has to do with priorities and loyalty. One has to make a decision to become a disciple. Dedication, devotion, loyalty – these are virtues that we are losing or if they remain at all they are misplaced.

• Because of the hostility the relationship of Christians with the world is described as a "sword," not peace. Something is cut and divided, decisions have to be made. Not because God is hostile. Not because we are hostile, but because of the spiritual turbulence of powers that resist the rule of Christ – the storm front.
  • Simply by wanting to do the right thing there is sometimes going to be hostility in a family, in a neighborhood, a city, or a nation.
  • Matthew was no doubt written to Jewish disciples who were cut off from their families because they decided to accept Jesus as Lord
  • It sounds like the stuff of third world nations and religious dictatorships – but we find it even in our own environment.
  • A husband or wife wants to serve God – wants to grow in God’s mercy but the husband or wife may take that personally because they are afraid or uncertain. It’s not going to be easy. Be determined and dedicated in your decision to follow Christ – do so with gentleness and respect – do not forsake Jesus.
  • An employee or a student who is dedicated to Christ may find moments of conflict when others will question you or challenge you because you are serious following Christ. Be determined and dedicated in your decision to follow Christ – but do so with gentleness and respect – do not forsake Jesus.

The temptation we have to avoid most of all is self-preservation. If we do that we lose …
Whoever finds his life loses it, whoever loses his life finds it – what other than Christ and his cross orders our life? What other than Christ and his cross do we confess? These other competing principles and powers are our teachers and we become disciples of these – but we lose our focus on the cross. And we cannot decide to be disciples of Christ and another.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 19 September 2004

The Search for Meaning

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Hebrews 11:13-16, All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

The older we are, the more we search for meaning and significance in life. The more spiritually mature we are, the more we realize our insignificance. Usually, age urges us to evaluate personal significance, and often advances spiritual maturity.

Obviously, those two perspectives go in opposite directions. In one, we seek for assurance of personal significance. In the other, we realize our insignificance.

The effect of both results in a great irony in human physical existence. We, as followers of God and Jesus Christ, grow in awareness that we do not belong. Evil’s expressions increasingly distress us. Hate and contempt’s expressions frustrate us inwardly and outwardly. Injustice deeply troubles us. On deeper levels, we realize that there are no simple answers–existence’s problems are quite complex! We yearn for simpler times, fully aware that such times do not exist. The more we are exposed to, the less we understand.

We look at the struggles around us, shake our heads, and quietly say to ourselves, “Did they not know this would be the result? Did they not understand the consequences?” When the obvious answer is “No!” we are astounded that anyone “could not know that.”

The author of the writing we know as Hebrews understood the enormous tension created by being a person of faith in an environment that says only “reality” exists. The more you are a person of faith, the less you fit into “physical reality.” The people to whom this author wrote knew that struggle–they lived in an extremely idolatrous environment!

He reminded them that the great people of faith they admired–including Abraham–“did not fit.” Though these people were only “stops” on God’s journey to His objectives in Christ, though they glimpsed but never possessed God’s great promises in Christ, though they had a choice to belong to “physical reality” or to “faith,” they understood some things very clearly. They clearly understood they did not fit in this unjust world. They clearly understood they belonged in a place where only righteousness (the purest form of justice) exists. They clearly understood that while they did not belong here, there was a place they would belong. Though the physical world thought they were stupid, God was not ashamed of them. God cherished them so much that he prepared a place of righteousness for them–a place where they always would know they belonged.

Find your significance in God. Find your insignificance in God. Know you “belong” in God’s presence. Measure yourself by your faith, not your possessions, position, or power. Never “belong” in an unjust world. Always “belong” to a righteous God.

Disciples Make Disciples

Posted by David on September 12, 2004 under Sermons

You have had a hard day on the job. It seems as if every time you turn around, something “goes wrong.” You spent a lot of your day trouble shooting. You did not accomplish nearly what you intended to accomplish. In fact, as you look back over your difficult day, you wonder to yourself if you did not waste your time and effort. You have nothing “to show for” all your work and effort that day.

You are bringing your work day to a close. You are preparing things to resume your efforts tomorrow. You do the necessary straightening up so you can start fresh tomorrow–you want there to be nothing to remind you of this miserable work day. You think about what has to happen quickly tomorrow. You are intent on completing your preparations for tomorrow. You just want to call it a day and forget about what you now consider a wasted day and wasted effort.

Just as you are almost through with your preparations, a religious teacher walks in and makes a ridiculous request of you. You know his request is just plain stupid. But you have been listening to the man teach, and you want to be polite. So you act out of politeness more than conviction. But you favorably respond to the man’s stupid request though it means the day will end on a meaningless, nonproductive note.

Read with me as we look at Luke 5:1-11. See if you can identify with the situation.
Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

1. If we talked to these men much later in their lives, I have little doubt that they would tell you, “That moment began the biggest and most important adventure of our lives.”
   1. If we asked, “Why?” I think we would hear these answers.
      1. “That was the day we began in earnest to be Jesus’ disciples.”
         1. “Our expectations were all wrong.”
         2. “We thought he was a special person sent by God, but we really did not understand just how special this person was.”
         3. “What we thought was going to happen and what did happen were not even similar.”
      2. “Before it was through, we finally understood we were the disciples of God’s own son. To this moment, that sounds incredible!”
   2. If we were to ask, “Why was being Jesus’ disciples so special?” I think they would respond in this way.
      1. “It being special had nothing to do with us.”
      2. “It being special had everything to do with who he was: God’s own son!”
      3. “It was special because God’s own son taught us God’s objectives and purposes in our lives and in the world.”
      4. “It was special because we were interacting with the greatest act of God ever manifested in Israel!”

2. I am going to share several scriptures with you as I seek to make a single point: people have to learn how to be disciples of Jesus, and that truth is very obvious in the twelve followers of Jesus.
   1. First, I call your attention to a continuing argument among these 12 disciples, an argument addressed in two ways by Jesus (they should be like children, and they should not be like Gentile rulers), but never resolved by the Lord.
      1. The argument: which one of us is the greatest (in the group) — a decidedly “not disciple like” argument.
      2. Consider these scriptures:
         Mark 9:33,34 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.
         1. They understood that this discussion/argument would not meet Jesus’ approval.
         2. They understood it was not the focus Jesus wanted them to have.
         3. Yet, it continued to be a matter of significant concern among them.

            Luke 9:46 An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

         4. Which one of them was the greatest might not have been of concern to Jesus.
         5. But, it is obviously of great concern to them.

            Luke 22:24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.

         6. Luke associates this dispute with the last supper.
         7. Jesus will be dead in less than 24 hours, and the twelve are arguing among themselves about their “pecking order” in their rank!
         8. This is not a disciple’s attitude or a disciple’s issue to be pursued–yet this is the argument of the twelve at the end of Jesus’ life!
   2. Second, I call to your attention Peter’s attitude after his great confession that Jesus is the Christ.
      Matthew 16:21-23 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
      1. First, note Jesus began to discuss his death and resurrection with the twelve disciples after Peter’s confession.
      2. Second, note Peter became so bold after his confession that he privately rebuked the Lord: “That will never happen! You must stop talking like that! That is not the things the Christ should be saying!”
      3. Third, note Jesus is now very upset with Peter.
         1. Just as Jesus commended Peter for receiving his revelation from God, he now calls him Satan.
         2. The problem: “You have set your mind on human interest instead of setting your mind on God’s interest.”
         3. Peter created for Jesus a temptation that was totally unnecessary! What Peter said could get Jesus to thinking about himself instead of about God.
         4. This decidedly is not a disciple’s role, focus, or action!
   3. Third, I call your attention to a suggestion made by James and John.
      Luke 9:51-56 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.
      1. Please remember that Samaritans and Jews hated each other.
         1. This hatred was quite old.
         2. Jews regarded Samaritans as the descendants of unfaithful Jews, and Samaritans regarded Jews as being theologically wrong.
      2. Remember that Jesus earlier had meaningful and fruitful interaction with the Samaritans (John 4).
      3. I think it is likely that James and John’s superiority Jewish attitude was oozing out.
         1. “Jesus has been very kind to these people.”
         2. “How dare they reject his request?”
         3. Notice the Samaritans are offended with Jesus preoccupation with Jerusalem–he was focused on the Jews!
      4. The rather obvious point I call to your attention is this: James and John’s desire to send fire on the offending Samaritans was very undisciple like–it is a basic failure to understand what Jesus is all about.
   4. Fourth, I call your attention to a statement Thomas made.
      John 20:24,25 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
      1. The time was shortly after Jesus’ resurrection.
      2. When Jesus first appeared to his disciples as a group the disciple Thomas was not there.
      3. When Thomas returned, excitedly the other disciples told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus.
         1. Thomas replied, “I do not believe it.”
         2. “Furthermore I will not believe he is raised from the dead unless I personally can feel the places where the nails were in his hands and the spear opened his side.”
      4. Again, I call your attention to the obvious–that is quite an undisciple like statement.
   5. Fifth, I call your attention to a statement made by the eleven disciples (Judas was dead) not long before Jesus’ ascension back to God.
      Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
      1. What these men expected to happen was not at all what was going to happen.
         1. In some way they expected the kingdom Jesus spoke about in his ministry to be connected with a restoration of the physical nation of Israel.
         2. Basically their question was, “Will it happen now?”
      2. Their question is a clear confession of the fact that they did not understand what was happening.
         1. They did not understand the foundation of Jesus’ ministry.
         2. They did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ death.
         3. They did not understand the significance of his resurrection (they were glad it happened, but they did not know its significance).
      3. These men followed Jesus throughout his ministry, they were witnesses of the truth of his resurrection, and they received instructions from him after his resurrection.
         1. But they were totally confused about what it all meant!
         2. It would have been impossible for them at that point to explain correctly the meaning of everything they had seen and heard!
      4. Note the obvious: we regard that as very undisciple like understandings and attitudes!

3. Allow me to call something to your attention in Matthew 28:19,20.
   1. This is the statement the resurrected Jesus made to his eleven disciples (Judas was dead).
      1. As Christians, we attach great significance to these two verses.
      2. We attach so much significance to these two verse that we often define the Christian mission and the work of the church by these two verses.
   2. First allow me to read these two verses from several translations.
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (NASV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (RSV)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations: baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes to the end of time. (Jerusalem Bible)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, to the end of the age. (Today’s English Version)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (The New King James Version)
      • Matthew 28:19,20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (The King James Version)
   3. I call some things to your attention.
      1. Every major English translation translates those verses with the primary emphasis on making disciples, except the King James translation (even the New King James version makes discipleship the focus).
      2. One of the truths I personally find distressful is the fact that we are baptizing people who have neither desire nor intention of being disciples.
      3. Every person who wishes to be a disciple needs to be baptized and taught the teachings of Jesus, but the objective must be to make disciples, followers of Jesus.

Every man or woman who is serious about making disciples must be committed to being a disciple. Those who followed Jesus as the 12 in his earthly minister declare discipleship is an ongoing pursuit. It is focused on understanding God’s purposes in Jesus Christ. Christians find our purpose in life when we understand God’s purpose.