A Theology of Glory and a Theology of the Cross - by Don Matzat

A Theology of Glory and a Theology of the Cross - by Don Matzat

This is a fantastic summarization of the issues I handled more clumsily in most recent blog. The is a short version of something treated in greater depth by the Reformers as well as by Gerharde O. Forde in this book. http://www.amazon.com/Being-Theologian-Cross-Reflections-Disputation/dp/080284345X%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJASE6HSSVXTNREYQ%26tag%3Dfstchrm-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D080284345X

This article by Don Matzat is a short read and to the point. Wonderful stuff.

In Defense of Self-Loathing

The Gate Leading to Destruction is Wide and Many Will Find It¹

Despite reports to the contrary, religion seems alive and well in America.  Every major city seems to have a megachurch or two, if not more.  Thousands have multiple “campuses” (campi?)—among them are churches like Willow Creek, Mars Hill and Saddleback.  Is Christianity the draw?  Is the gospel the Jesus commanded the apostles to preach the message that fills millions of seats in churches like these?  This is an important question for every Christian to ask, because even though your church may not be a multi-site megachurches, the pastors of such churches author the books on the shelf of your pastor’s office, or that are the center of discussion in your Sunday school or small group study.

Don’t get the wrong idea.  This post is not a rant on megachurches.  This is actually one of the more intensely personal posts I’ve written so far.  If you read on, you’ll see that I’m harder on myself than anyone else, in this particular post.  But I want to ask this question: is the true Gospel ever going to fill a church the size of the shopping mall?  Jesus described the road to life as narrow and few will find it.  The shelves of bookstores are lined with opinions of every color, shape and sort regarding God’s Word.  Isn’t it important to nail down what the Bible really says while navigating this hurricane containing every wind and wave of doctrine? ² 

So what is that narrow road?  Are there really only a few who find it?  If the gospel is really good news, why does Jesus warn us that the world will hate those who keep his word?  The truth is, the narrow path travels through truly appalling news before it gets to the good news of the Gospel.  When faced with this hard to swallow stuff, many take a turn to the wider path.

I Have Not Come to Call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance³

I used to watch Dr. Phil.  I saw an episode where they were talking about leading causes of death in America.  There were things listed like heart disease, cancer, etc.  He finally revealed the number one cause of death:“denial”.   Of course, as Christians, we know that the one and only cause of death is actually sin, because the wages of sin is death.  But the number one cause of dying in our sins is also denial.

Jesus came for the sick, not for the emotionally moved or the mentally convinced.  The Jews looked for miracles.  The Greeks looked for fine arguments, eloquent speech.⁴   But Jesus came for the sick, for the publican, beating his chest, despairing because of his wretchedness and wickedness.  The rich young ruler, on the other hand, was in denial.  He said claimed to keep the law.  Jesus pressed him, trying to draw him out of his denial.  If you look at the Sermon on the Mount, you know that, in Jesus view, the young man lying in saying he kept the law.  But the young man could not face the truth.  He walked away. ⁵

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, And Desperately Wicked.  Who Can Understand it?⁵

Our whole culture is in denial, and for the most part, the church in America is not helping.  We have lost the idea of sin, of lostness, or wretchedness.  We like teachers who say how wonderful we are and hold to a theology of positive affirmation.  You rarely hear from the pulpit that our heart is desperately wicked, beyond cure and beyond understanding.  We don’t like to believe anything is beyond cure of our multiple drugs and brands of therapy.  We are hoping, I think, to cure death itself.

And we certainly don’t want to admit anything is beyond understanding.  Whole sections of Barnes and Noble are devoted to the idea that the heart can be understood.  Various sections of book stores, both secular and religious, are populated by books authored by those who claim to understand the heart’s inner workings.  But the vast majority of these self-help gurus will get it wrong.  There theories fail to factor in our fallenness.  We are considered malfunctioning machines in need of reprogramming rather than wicked and selfish creatures who ought to be exterminated for the good of the planet.  (Do we really think we’re that much better than those who lived in the days of Noah?)

No we’d rather think we’re not as bad as all that.  We’re just a bit off-course.  We just need a little assistance.  A little life coaching will do the trick.  What the bible claims that we are seems so unpleasant, sounds so hopeless!  Dead in trespasses and sins?  It sounds so negative!  We don’t want to listen to discouraging messages like that.  We rather hear that we need a bit of tweaking. We just need to try harder, believe in ourselves, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and take another trip to the bookstore to find a different strategy.

These are the positive messages, paired sometimes with Vegas-style entertainment, that fills churches to capacity.  There might be talk of salvation.  Everyone wants to take care of the eternal end of things.  God may be mentioned, and perhaps Jesus. There is the obligatory altar call.  Some speak of salvation, but don’t say what we need to be saved from.  Some say we need to trust God, but don’t say what to trust him for.  They might—and this is a big might—even use the word “sin”, but likely substitutes include words like “brokenness”, or “baggage”, or “mistakes”, or “hang-ups” or “mistakes”.  Is this what we think of God’s justice?  That he would condemn us for “mistakes”?  We are in denial of our outright rebellion against the God who created us.  We are in denial regarding the fact that we have not even the ability within ourselves to submit to God or even to want to do so. 

There is No One Righteous.  No One Seeks God⁵

For many years, I was told in order to be saved, I needed to admit I was a sinner, but sin was never really defined.  I was told that a person stands condemned before God if he even breaks one of God’s laws.  But this always seemed pretty unfair to me.  And perhaps it would be.  The problem is, this scenario is completely hypothetical.  There’s no one that has only broken one or even just a few of his commandments.  We were born into sin, being descendants of Adam.  Without regeneration, every single one of us has a heart that, though maybe outwardly submitting to God, inwardly shakes its fist at God as a complete rebel.

Do Not Be Surprised at the Fiery Trial as Though Something Strange Were Happening⁶

So many teach heaven can be found on earth.  It would be nice to believe, but I see no basis for that belief found in God’s word.  Some have tried to tell me that the wretched man struggling with sin in Romans 7 is only struggling because he does not yet have the Holy Spirit.  And they teach Romans 8 contains some miraculous key.  If I could just understand it well enough, they say, I will be victorious over my sin and will no longer struggle. I was taught, over and over, that I just could grasp that I’m an “overcomer” that I could finally pull my life together and reach that new level of maturity I’ve been waiting for.

“More than Conquerors” Describes a Life Full of Trials and Tribulations (in all these things…)⁷

This is just one more angle on the same old prosperity gospel.  When people work to get the Bible to say what they want it to say, they tend to have a common theme.  God wants to make your life in this world better.  It’s not all about a future hope.  He is waiting to bless you with earthly blessings and wants to provide way of escape out of our current trial.  The only way that we will find such promises is if we isolate verses and read into them what we want to.  This is how I used to study my bible.  Some verse would suddenly means something new to me that I never meant before.  I would assume my epiphany was from the Holy Spirit and proceed to pull that verse from context and allegorize and make it all about me and apply it to my life, whether it was meant to applied to me or not.

But God is so gracious.  I spent much time studying God living and active word and seed was sown in my heart to lay dormant, then germinate, until I finally heard teachers that help everything fit together as it should.  As it was, the way I was approaching God’s word, I was fitting square pegs of His Word into round theological holes.  For a long time, being the smart girl that I am, would find ways to wiggle verses into odd-shaped holes.

Through the Law Comes Knowledge of Sin ⁸

Then the light came on—almost blindingly so.  I stumbled across teachers of God's Word who were so sure of truth and preached from broad tracts of scripture all at once and had such confidence in its interpretation.  They spoke of the wonderful thread of law and the gospel that ran through the whole Bible, from Eden to the New Jerusalem.    God’s law is given to expose sin.  Man either keeps trying merit favor with God and fails, or the law drives man to his knees (through the Holy Spirit’s conviction) and he repents and appeals to God’s mercy and depends on God for his salvation rather than self.  It has been by faith from first to last.⁹

Now actually, the way was paved for this new sight from a prayer I had prayed a few years before.  I started making some connections from what God clearly laid out in his word.  His word says he is completely and totally just¹⁰.  If God is just, then I truly deserved to have been on that cross myself and would be understanding, just as the thief to one side of Jesus who knew he was only dying for his crimes.¹¹  I knew in my head, then, that I truly deserved to die for my sins, and if I could just see my sins through  God’s eyes, I would know I deserved not only every lash and nail and thorn suffered by Jesus, I also deserved Hell for eternity.¹²  I wanted to understand it. I wanted to be like the woman who anointed Jesus, who Jesus said loved much because she was forgiven much.¹³

So I prayed to God to help me see my sin for what it is.  I remember it well.  I was singing up on stage, and it was a musical interlude between two songs, and I prayed for God to show me, to help me understand exactly why I deserved death, why I deserved Hell.  It was probably a Good Friday service and my mind was on the cross.  He has certainly answered that prayer since then, and is still answering it.  I pray the Holy Spirit will continue to bring my sin into the light so that I may hate it, flee from it, and may be more and more grateful to my dear Savior who was willing to take it upon himself.

Everyone Who is Angry With His Brother Will Be Liable to Judgment¹⁴

Here is some of what I began to see.  I now see that much of the same misery that I’ve experienced I’ve also caused others.  I saw that murder dwelt in my heart at those times when I was angry with another.  Jesus said that we commit murder with these thoughts, and I was starting to see why that was true. 

You Will Be Delivered Over to the Jailers if You Do Not Forgive from the Heart¹⁵

For the first time, I experienced truly being wronged by people I really cared about.  I knew that I had not suffered much in my life.  Not really.  I had formerly considered forgiveness pretty simple.  But I had not experienced much yet in my life that would be hard to forgive.  Over the past few years though, I have been hurt deeply.  I know many have experienced worse, but for me, this was as bad it had ever been.   Hatred and anger and bitterness were so close to the surface in my heart.  So close that I realized I had been long infected and it was just waiting to metastasize.  I always thought of myself as someone who deserved to be treated well.  The seed of self-righteousness is all it takes to be infected.  Self-righteousness is at the root of so much evil.

Whoever is Slack in His Work is a Brother to Him Who Destroys¹⁶

The Holy Spirit also revealed my laziness.  I realized that resentment was my constant companion through my daily tasks.  Every time my family needs something from me, I became aware of the resistance that was simply always there, every time I was required to do what I’d rather not, whether it be cooking dinner, getting water, getting up to help a child who asked for help the minute I finally sit down to rest.   And yes, I love my husband and my children, and if I ever lost them… well I don’t like to go there or dwell on what that would be like.  But taking others for granted is what comes naturally when I don’t make an effort to be grateful.  I don’t have the emotional or mental capacity to constantly hold the picture in my mind of their possible loss.

So yes, I am lazy.  And most of the time, I manage to maintain a façade of outward diligence, but it doesn’t change that I’d rather be doing something else.  And when a moment presents itself for me to actually rest, I spend that precious time, most likely, in restless agitation, looking for entertainment or a way to fill my belly.  Or perhaps I waste those precious moments of leisure on worthless pursuits like Bejeweled, or Angry Birds.

And don’t get me started on the taming of the tongue and how quickly that lashes out to create wounds I wish I could take back as soon as I’ve caused them, especially in my children.  And there are the times I knew I should discipline a child, but didn’t want to take the effort.  There are the times I didn’t care enough for justice and didn’t listen well enough to my child’s explanation of “what really happened” and why.  I could go on, couldn’t I?  I won’t.  I would fill pages and pages at this point.

I get lectures from some friends who get mad when I talk like this, saying I’m being negative and that I’m inviting curses into my life by talking this way.  But I don’t worry about that any more.  I have stopped living under the law.  “Speak positively, you receive blessing.  Speak negatively, receive curses.”  This is simply another regulation to follow—another form of the law.

Living under the law is not just about the Mosaic law of the Bible.  You live according to the law whenever you do action A and expect result B, whether or not “B” is a promised reward or punishment.  The whole idea of living by faith is living under God’s grace and mercy and I learn to expect, or hope for, what I do not deserve or merit.  So whether it’s the perfect law of God, that Jesus fulfilled when he walked this earth, or some sad facsimile made by man, which Jesus rejected, I know I will fail if I live under either.  Every time I hear an “ought to” or “you must”, sin springs to life and I die.¹⁷

And this kind of negative talk, by which my friends are so certain I’m sinning, is biblically ordained.  It’s called acknowledgment of our sin that goes along with repentance.  If I live in denial of my sin, this is proof that his Word does not dwell in me.¹⁸

I know now that everyone, if they’re honest with themselves, could make a list quite like this. And even if they manage to reach a later stage of sanctification, this mess is not far beneath the surface.  And this is why the gospel is for “saints” as well as sinners.  I sin daily and I sin much and, though I will never cease to struggle against sin and God will continue to sanctify me, to keep me headed in the right direction, I will not be free of this struggle this side of Heaven. And I rejoice that his forgiveness is available daily and his Word contains the gospel in many and varied words to be a balm to my soul as I come to him for cleansing.

Our salvation is a process.  I have already been saved from the penalty of sin.  I am secure in Him.  I am being saved and delivered from the power of sin.  And one day, when I go to be with the Lord, I will be saved from the presence of sin.  And since I have believed, since he has given me the faith that saves, since I am sealed with the Spirit, then I will grow in my hatred of sin.

Anyone who has been born of Christ does not continue in sin.  As John said, “Do not love the world, or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”¹⁹

Would we really tempt God that way, to continue purposely in the things that were paid for by the blood of his son, saying it doesn’t matter because it’s already paid for?  If you are a murderer, and someone else gives you complete pardon, do you say, “Well, I am in the good graces of him who would convict me, so I will go and murder as many people as I want!”  Have we no fear of God?  

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but fear of God is sort of out of style these days.  We do not tremble.  We are told that God is in love with us and would do anything for the apple of his eye and we step into the role of spoiled rich kids rather than pardoned criminals.  We would rather play the part of the bride, purified and ready for the wedding, and forget our role as maidens waiting for the groom, keeping our wicks trimmed, our oil filled and watching and not sleeping.²⁰

I said before, the path to the good news leads through bad news.  (The good news, of course, is forgiveness of sins, in Jesus’ name, trusting in his work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, rather than trusting in our own works.) But it’s not really bad news.  It’s the news we always knew to be true, but were spending all our energy covering up.  The good news is that our deep-seated sinfulness is forgiven as we take refuge in the strong tower of his name, “Jesus” (God saves) and “Emmanuel” (God with Us!)  This is good news: God’s blessing does not depend on my behavior. 

Humble Yourself Under God’s Mighty Hand ²¹

Why do others recoil at my low view of myself?  I’ve never been happier.  Pretending that I could actually live a righteous life was exhausting.  Always feeling like I was falling short was depressing.  Trying to be a “super-christian” or measure up to one, it’s a miserable way to spend this life on earth.

But the simple message of repentance of forgiveness of sins will not fill thousands of seats.  It will fill souls who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The default of the flesh is to run and hide like Adam and Eve.  But the life that is eternal is lived in the light.  Our nature loves flattery and the messages that tickle itching ears, saying “You can do it!”  But if by God's grace, you get a taste for the truth, nothing else will do, even when the truth offends.  I pray that I will always say, as Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life!”²²

My "Mission Statement"

Recently, scanning my Facebook wall, I noticed a few friends had posted “mission statements”.  At first when I read them, I experienced some nasty flashbacks from corporate meetings of my pre-stay-at-home-mom days.  I’ve participated in think tanks tasked with creating corporate mission statements.  I think the idea was that we had to come upon some agreement as to where our focus should be.  And for a business, this is very important.  If a business lacks focus, it may bunny trail itself into bankruptcy.  I heavily doubted, though, that I could contribute to a mission statement destined to be instrumental to a company’s corporate success.  I majored in linguistics in college, not business. 

The term “mission statement” doesn’t appear in the bible by the way.  The word “mission” itself, though, does occur, but only four times in the ESV translation.  The first is in a conversation between Samson’s father and an angel.  The angel was announcing to Samson’s father that his wife would have a baby and that he would be under a Nazirite vow.  Samson’s father questioned the angel as to why this would be true and asked “what will be his mission?” (Judges 13)

The next two are within the same story in 1 Samuel 15, when Samuel and Saul have a discussion about the fact that Saul had been sent on a mission to destroy the Amalekites.  (And those who know the story know that Saul lost focus in his mission)

The fourth, in 2 Corinthians 11:12, is used in phrase “boasted mission” in referring to false teachers, which I suppose contributes little to this discussion.  But the other instances do seem to imply that having a mission is not un-biblical, but notice the missions were received from God.

When I look up mission, the definitions that seem to apply to this discussion are as follows

a. A special assignment given to a person or group: an agent on a secret mission.

b. A combat operation assigned to a person or military unit.

The second definition may seem at first not to apply to this discussion, but consider this, that we are soldiers of the Cross as believers. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  (Ephesians 6:12)  

Either way, a mission, biblically speaking, and even by its own definition, is an assignment.  Certainly as believers, we are not allowed to make up our own mission.

If you are looking to find a mission statement by which to live your life to achieve some earthly goal, even if it’s feeding the poor or healing the sick, then you might as well just come up with your own or maybe go check out something from the self-help section.  Search your heart, your desires, your willingness, but don’t search the Bible.  The Bible urges over and again for our focus to be on heavenly things.

Consider Jesus.  Jesus healed the sick.  Jesus fed multitudes.  But Jesus passed up many sick and there are many he didn’t feed.  Just look at what he said to Judas when he complained that the nard which Mary poured on Jesus was not sold to feed the poor.  Jesus said to him, “The poor you will always have with you.  You will not always have me.”  (Matthew 26:11)

Jesus rejected attempts of others to make him king.  He had no interest in delivering Israel from the Romans.  He wanted to deliver them from their sins, and he kept his eyes fixed ahead to the cross and the Church that would be birthed through his death, the kingdom that would be won that was a heavenly one. (Hebrews 12:1-3, Matthew 4:1-11)

Now the apostles were also on mission from God.  “Apostles” means sent ones.  Now we have to be careful, because not all are apostles.  In fact, apostles were personally sent by Jesus and also had to be witnesses to the resurrection (this excludes everyone living).  Be careful not to think too highly of yourself and receive as your own every mission given to the apostles.  Jesus told the apostles to go into all of the world. (Matthew 28)  And indeed the church is still tasked with sending his gospel into all the world, to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins, and to make sure this message reaches as many as possible. 

But is it really true, what Keith Green sang in his song, “Jesus commands us to go.  It’s the exception if we stay”?  Is everyone to go into all the world?  What then do we make of his commands to slaves to obey their earthly masters, for people to stay at home and not be busy bodies and work quietly with their hands and wives to love and serve their husbands and parents bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord and to manage their households?  What are we to do with Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 for believers “remain with God” “in whatever condition he was called”?  This should be considered carefully by every Christian.

So what do I know about God’s indisputable instructions to me from his word?  My focus, first of all, is to be on the things above and not earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-3, 1 John 2:15-17)  I am also warned that a woman who is “self-indulgent are dead even while she lives.” (1 Timothy 5:6)   I am to love and raise my children in the training and admonition of the Lord.  I am to obey my husband with reverence and respect (Ephesians 5:33).  I am to work with my hands. (Thessalonians)  I am to keep myself unstained from the world, for according to James, this is part of pure and faultless religion.  (So is feeding the poor, by the way, so I suppose I should also not resent cooking dinner for at least my family).  I am to practice hospitality (Romans 12).  I suppose I should at least practice this on my family until guests come along.  For if I treat my family worse than outsiders then God will not be pleased.

This list is getting awfully long.  I finally gave up giving specific scripture references for all these things, partly because they are repeated so many times in the New Testament it’s hard to miss them.  Go to the epistles and you will find all these things, or something similar, in almost every letter.  When I look at this list, a list that’s actually only partial, the more I see that I am neither focused on it nor achieving it.  In fact, I fail daily.  In the light of the Sermon on the Mount, I break the commandments daily.  So my mission is to repent daily (to beg for grace, in fact, to even want to repent.)  I will daily seek forgiveness for my sins and maintain a proper view of myself in the sight of God.  I will constantly bring myself to the mirror of God’s word to keep me focused.  I am lost without his light.  Without his Spirit and his word, I am aimless and wander in darkness.  Thanks be to God for not leaving us in darkness but blessing us with his precious Word and the gift of his Spirit.

I just want to give a word of encouragement to those who may seem overwhelmed at the idea of having a mission statement or that they are failing somehow not to have a “five-year plan” or something of the sort.  This is very popular to “preach” in business training seminars and such and I am sure it’s of value to entrepreneurs and those on in rigorous training for the Olympics.  But are we in “sin” if we don’t have such a plan or mission statement?  I’ve actually heard preachers teach as if it were sin of which we need to repent.

I would like wind up this post by quoting the Apology to the Augsburg Confession by Phillip Melanchthon as a defense of the refutation by the Catholic Church of the Augsburg Confession.  A short and perhaps inadequate definition for those unfamiliar with the history of the reformation, but you can go here to find a lengthier description.

“[There are] traditions [which have] obscured the commandments of God, because traditions were placed far above the commandments of God.  Christianity was thought to consist wholly in the observance of certain holy-days, rites, fasts, and vestures.  These observances had won for themselves the exalted title of being the spiritual life and the perfect life.  Meanwhile the commandments of God, according to each one’s calling, were without honor namely, that the father brought up his offspring, that the mother bore children, that the prince governed the commonwealth,--these were accounted works that were worldly and imperfect, and far below those glittering observances.  And this error greatly tormented devout consciences, which grieved that they were held in an imperfect state of life, as in marriage, in the office of magistrate; or in other civil ministrations; on the other hand, they admired the monks and such like, and falsely imagined that the observances of such men were more acceptable to God.

[These] traditions [also] brought great danger to consciences; for it was impossible to keep all traditions, and yet men judged these observances to be necessary acts of worship.  Gerson writes that many fell into despair and that some even took their own lives, because they felt that they were not able to satisfy the traditions, and they had all the while not heard any consolation of the righteousness of faith and grace.  We see that the summists and theologians gather the traditions, and seek mitigations whereby to ease consciences, and yet they do not sufficiently unfetter, but sometimes entangle, consciences even more.

Just because the traditions that we have collected may not match specifically with the traditions of monks, our consciences can be wearied by each new book we read with each new leadership or growth technique, just as much as quickly as the traditions insisted upon by Catholic monks of the middle ages or the Judaizers with which the Galatians dealt.  It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.  Stand firm then, and do not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5)

AlbertMohler.com – Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel — And Why So Many Christians Think It Is

AlbertMohler.com – Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel — And Why So Many Christians Think It Is

I wanted to share this. It's an old article, but a message that's still needed. Enjoy!

Proverbs... Good advice? Or Good News?

When I used to read the book of Proverbs, I would hear the voice or perhaps a oriental sage like Mr. Miyagi’s voice (Karate Kid), or perhaps Yoda’s.  It seemed to be full of pithy sayings, short, sweet and full of good advice.  There is much good advice in the book of Proverbs.  But honestly, I’ve learned over the past few years, that there is so much more.  If this book in the Bible is reduced to good advice, then it is little more value than watching Dr. Phil or perhaps reading the works of Confucius.

 

Something Wicked this Way… Reflects in the Mirror

I think Proverbs might officially be the book I know best in the entire Bible, because I spent years in the habit of reading one chapter per day, covering most of the book every month.  (I often thanked God that not every month had 31 days, because Proverbs 31 always made me feel like a slacker!)  As I read these chapters daily, the Holy Spirit brought light to things that should have been clear from the nouns and verbs and adjectives used.  The straightforward language of Proverbs was originally geared towards children, so God kept it simple.  How could I have missed the obvious message to me in this clear language. 

One reason I failed to see clearly is that it was hard to see in black in white when my culture has trained me to see gray.  These days, we only see the middle ground.  Proverbs contrasts the wicked with the righteous, the foolish with the wise.  I used to think of the wicked as mass murderers and the foolish as those who spend half of every paycheck on the lottery.  Most consider themselves neither wicked nor righteous but something in between.  “Maybe I’m not wise, but I’m no idiot!”   “I’m no saint, but I try my best and I think I do pretty well.”  This language—“wicked” and “righteous”, “foolish” and “wise”—is so… so judgmental!

Then it started sinking in.  As I saw the picture of the wicked and the foolish drawn by Solomon and others in God’s Word, the picture was starting to look an awful lot like a self-portrait!  Let me give a few examples:

“The wicked flees when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Pr 28:1)

Hmm, let me think.  I can be brazen.  I can be impertinent.  But the boldness that comes from a clean conscious?  To be honest, I’m as guilty as anyone of having neuroses, irrational fear and a defensive nature when anything can even be perceived as criticism, much less attack or pursuit.  But Jesus?  Now he’s bold.  He’s the lion of Judah, the righteous Son of God who did not even fear death, not even death on a cross. 

“The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.”  (Pr 10:88)

“Receive” is a word you use for someone graciously receiving a gift.  I may grudgingly accept advice and do what I wanted to do in the first place (and then learn “wisdom” the hard way).  I hate getting advice.  I love giving advice.  (And like the “fool” described elsewhere in proverbs, have delighted in airing my own opinions (Pr. 18:2), though I’m more careful now when I put them in writing than I used to be.)  And yes, I have been known to babble on like a brook.  I really love talking, and elsewhere in Proverbs, there is the statement “Where words are many, sin is not absent” (10:19).  So I guess this would make me not only a fool, but a sinful fool, right? 

But Jesus—he is God!  And he submitted to the authority of an earthly sinful father and probably received instructions under rabbis as well.  He received his Father’s will in the garden of Gethsemane, “not my will but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42)  He made no answer when falsely accused in order to be obedient to death, even death on a cross.   Let’s look at another one:

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked concedes violence.”  (Pr. 10:11)

Wow.  This one screams Jesus, doesn’t it?  Well maybe it doesn’t for you.  It didn’t always for me.  But consider this:  Jesus said he is the Living Water (John 7:37-39).  Whoever drinks of him will never thirst.  He is also the Word of God (John 1, 1 John 1).  So that makes him Word and Water.  And Jesus, this fountain of words of life, said that if we even think “You fool”, we have committed murder (Matthew 5:22, 23).  I have to admit.  I wouldn’t dare say to someone all I think.

Yes, I enjoy judging others more than I’d care to admit.  And when something bad happens to someone who hasn’t been the nicest to me, I’m embarrassed by the first feelings that crop up in my heart.  Rejoicing at my enemy’s downfall, yes this is wicked.  And knowing this is wicked, we know then that Jesus, who scripture says is sinless, did not entertain one murderous or even uncharitable thought towards Judas or the Pharisees, or the men driving nails in his hands and feet.

Some may not think it’s fair that there is God doesn’t grade on a curve.  Why is there no middle ground?

The problem is, Jesus broke the curve.  If you grade on a curve, we still end up at one end and Jesus on the other.  Though people do tend to think in terms of being graded, God has been clear from the start that he thinks in terms of a penal code, guilty or innocent.  And we all are so far from righteous, every one of us, that the little gradations of difference between different unrighteous people, these differences are microscopic compared to our galactic distance from the righteousness of Jesus.  Because if we kept on going through all the Proverbs (including all the ones that could have been written), the score would be about a billion to zero, with Jesus at one end of the universe and us on the other.

How I Now Use Proverbs

Now, I use Proverbs during my prayer time, especially when confessing sins.  I no longer get through a chapter per day.  A few proverbs open up an ocean of possibility for confession.  And in my latest forays into Proverbs, I also have discovered something I never expected to find… Jesus!

The Gospel according to Proverbs

Jesus said that the scripture is all about him.  Proverbs too?   Really?  Yes!  Consider these:

“Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” (Pr. 11:21)

Yes, it is clear, from those other verses, that I am wicked.  And I know God cannot leave me unpunished, so he took my punishment upon himself!  So justice prevails and I am delivered.  Notice also that this proverb refers to the offspring of the righteous.  That would be me!  I am hidden in Jesus, brought into the family of God through my trust in him, adopted by God.  I may not be righteous, but I am the offspring of the righteous. This is great news!

Apocalyptic Proverbs?

I can’t help but see in this proverb the contrast drawn, at the return of Jesus, between the reaction of those who are righteous through faith in Him and those who have trusted in their own works:

“What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.  When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous established forever.” (Pr. 10:24)

And here is a supreme gospel passage close to the center of the book:

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower;’

The righteous man runs into it and is safe.

A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,

And like a high wall in his imagination

Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,

But humility comes before honor.” (Pr. 18:10-12)

The name of the Lord is like the ark of Noah.  Run into it.  Hide inside his promise and you will be safe from the flood of judgment to come.  If someone asks me, “Are you saved”, I might answer “Yes and no.”  I am saved in the sense that I am no longer dead in my sins and alive to God, buried and raised with Christ.  But there is a judgment to come, and I have yet to be saved from that, but trust in Jesus to be my redeemer.  I have kissed the son so that I may be safe when his wrath rises (Psalm 2).  A man’s wealth may be a strong city to protect from many of the world’s ills, but is useless in the judgment day.  I must humble myself now so I’m not crawling under rocks later to hide from his righteous wrath. 

The Uniqueness of God’s Wisdom

I’ve been taught in the past that Proverbs is all about how the world works and all about godly principles to follow in order to receive God’s blessing.  This kind of pragmatic view of wisdom is the world’s wisdom.  But God’s wisdom is different from the world’s wisdom.  And though there were many “wisdom” writings of ancient days, Proverbs is different from the non-biblical wisdom writings in these ways:

Biblical wisdom writings focus on right and wrong.  Wisdom and righteousness are one, which is found unified in Christ, the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1) and the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21).  The “wisdom” that is valued in other cultures is about cunning, craftiness and finding what works, what gets results.  But, contrary to what I’ve been taught, we are not encouraged by God to act in ways that necessarily bring earthly blessing.  Solomon wrote that the “race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise” (Eccl 9:11).  We are promised if we try to lead a godly life, we will be persecuted.(2 Timothy 3:12)  To save up earthly treasure may bring earthly blessing, but puts our soul at risk if we store up these treasures instead of heavenly ones.

God’s wisdom is not determined by man’s reason.  That is the wisdom of philosophers.  But God’s wisdom is foolishness to man.  We cannot conceive of what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).  He must reveal it.  God’s wisdom is revealed, not reasoned.  It is not the voice of experience, of the worldly wise, but the voice of holiness from before eternity. Thus the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10 is one place you find this but it repeated often in the book of Proverbs).  We are urged to “trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding.”  (Pr. 3:5)

When I read Proverbs and hide them in my heart, I don’t really feel smarter.  I don’t feel wise. I am laid low and I can see that only God is good (Mark 10:18).  I see a portrait of Christ in almost every one.  God’s wisdom is fulfilled in Christ. 

“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Pr. 12:19)

Lord Jesus, you are truth.  My only hope is to keep your words on my lips for otherwise they are covered with the venom of asps (Romans 3:13) and my tongue sets the course of my life on fire (James 3:6).  .  Cleanse my evil selfish thoughts and replace my desires with yours, Holy Spirit.  Wash me with your Word.

“No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.”         (Pr. 12:3)

Lord, you are the vine, the one who took root to become to tree of life.  We are only branches (John 15:1).  (And I am an engrafted branch, a gentile.)  My righteousness, my life, comes from you.

“An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escape from trouble.” (Pr. 12:13)

Praise be to God that you release my feet from the snare.  How many of my careless words throughout my life would certainly be flung in my face by the accuser.  But you have saved me.  You have hidden me in your Son.  You are righteous, Lord Jesus, so the cords of death could not hold you.  Hidden in you I have also escaped those cords when I was raised with you from the dead.  You are my eternal life.  I am established in your righteousness.

Is "Big Church" as dangerous as "Big Government"?

It happens more at Easter; but it happens the rest of the year as well.  The Church in America performs various gymnastics to lure people through the doors of the church building.  Often, these efforts appeal to appetites of the flesh: dropping candy from helicopters, providing professional entertainment, giving away expensive gifts.  Pastors and preachers choose topical sermons according to what they imagine will be of interest to the carnal heart: sex, money, weight loss, popular movies. 


The Church that "Has it All"

And then churches offer incentive to stay, providing ministries and services to meet “needs”: parenting seminars, weight loss support groups, addiction recovery groups, psychotherapy, childcare, life coaching.  These are all good things I suppose—maybe even helpful—but as far as I know, they are not biblically mandated things.  And these are all things you could go outside the church to get.  Shouldn’t they be coming to church to get what the World cannot give them? Jesus says “I do not give as the World gives.” (John 14:27)

Should we Be Any More Attractive to the World Than Our Savior?

In John 15, Jesus goes on to describe how the world will hate us because it hated him, and only those who are chosen out of the world will accept His teaching entrusted to us.  So the “strategy” is to proclaim the message that offends many but will be accepted by those who are appointed to eternal life.  But if we are going out of our way to attract those who we suspect will reject the message otherwise, is this following the Lord’s instructions or his example?

Do Ends Justify the Means?

And how do we suppose we attract the world?  As John says in his first epistle, the things of the world have to do with the desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes and pride in possessions. (1 John 2:15-17)  If we use things to speak to the flesh to draw in a crowd, won’t this work against the love of God that we would want to promote as Christians?  We are taught by Jesus and Paul that worldly desires cannot dwell with spiritual ones.  There is no fellowship to be found between God’s agenda and the world’s.  (Galatians 5:17, Matthew 6:24)

What is the Church's Job Anyway?

The Church is commanded by Jesus to preach the gospel, make disciples, baptize, remember Jesus through the administration of the Lord’s Supper and to generally to love one another.  In many places, Jesus and the Apostles were clear that the commandment to love one another seemed to especially apply to be directed towards the body of believers. (Galatians 6:10, John 13:35, Acts 2:44,45)

Perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to try to draw some line as to how far outside the Body of Christ our charity ought to extend. The parable of the Good Samaritan certainly shows we should be no respecter of persons when it comes to mercy.  But there does seem to be an order of priority given in other passages, and that we should especially attend to the needs of our immediate family and to the needs of the family of believers.  And acts of loving your neighbor out to be a natural outflow, a fruit, of the Gospel, not the means through which the Gospel is preached.  (Remember the Apostles, as they were sent out by Jesus, they were expected to receive hospitality from houses as they went out.  They had no money to offer, but depended on the hospitality of those to whom they preached.)

Although Jesus had compassion on those with earthly needs as He walked in this world, he constantly pointed people towards the world to come, towards a focus on God’s kingdom, not earthly ambitions. (Matthew 6:25)  Jesus wants our focus to be on caring for souls more than the body.  Our bodies, along with all that is in this world, are passing away.  Jesus always emphasized the imperishable over the perishable, as did the Apostles.  He proclaimed heavenly food to be a better food (John 4:34, John 6:58) and heavenly drink to be a superior drink. (John 4:13-14) Indeed a focus on what fills the stomach is a dangerous, dangerous pastime and not what Christians are called to. (Philippians 3:17-19, Colossians 3:1-4)

Is the Cart Before the Horse?


So many churches extend beyond caring for actual needs (food and shelter), but have set out to meet the perceived needs of anyone in the general vicinity of the Church.  Churches reason what they are doing will help draw in members, thereby advancing God’s kingdom.  (This reasoning will cause charitable resources, of course, to be focused towards unbelievers not believers, the opposite priority commanded by Paul.)  Some church leadership may have selfish interest in such outreach, selling books and media and collecting more tithes. 


Is There Really Room to Add to Our Job Description?

Some may instead have the interest of the Gospel in mind, but is the interest of the Gospel served by adding to biblically mandated means of Grace?  Has what God has commanded gotten lost in the traditions of men, gotten lost in the pragmatic American mentality that the ends justify any means?  All these extras take away time, energy and focus from the simple backbone of biblical mandate of preaching the word, studying the word, baptizing, gathering in fellowship at the Lord’s table and in prayer.  This is where God promises his grace will rest.  This is what he has promised to bless.  (Matthew 28:18-20,  Matthew 18:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26)  He has not commanded more than this.  And the Apostles never seemed to feel the need to go beyond these things in the book of Acts.  But Americans always feel the need to add, to expand, to try something new.  We are absolutely addicted to novelty, but we are supposed to be passing on something old, the faith once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

Wiping Off Dust or Pulling up Bootstraps?

Jesus said to wipe the dust from our feet if someone did not listen to our message.  (Matthew 10:14)  But if he had said that to a modern American, I would imagine we might be tempted to beg for an attempt at a new approach, to find some way to win them over.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!  I know I can!  I know I can!  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and where there’s a will there’s a way!  These are some of our favorite sayings and Jesus just seems defeatist, doesn’t he?

I heard Dr. Michael Horton sum up this pragmatic attitude as “Our strategies vs. God’s means”.  And when we get caught up in our strategies, God’s means are often left collecting dust in the basement.  What are God’s means?  What has God mandated as an acceptable means of church growth?  Does God even command us to “grow” churches, or does he command us to preach, teach, baptize, pray and leave the results to him?

Is Bigger Blessed?

We may plant, we may water, but God brings the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6).  But is the reverse true?  Does growth always come from God?  Is there any biblical basis for this assumption?  Sometimes Jesus seemed to go out of his way to make sure to cut down the numbers of his followers, like Gideon, making sure he was left only with those who could accept all his teachings, such as forgive your brother 70 times 7 and you must eat my body and my blood to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Many left him after he proclaimed these things.  But then there will be those who are left, like Peter, who say “Lord, to whom shall we go.  You have the Words of Eternal life.” (John 6:57-68)

Why Add Spitballs When You Already Have a Sword?

But where are the Words of eternal life now?  They are written in God’s word, the sword of the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:17).  The sword is the only offensive piece of equipment listed in this passage.  If we understood the power of the Gospel the power he granted to the testimony of his Apostles and Prophets, would we devote ourselves to proclaiming anything else?  But God’s word is losing its place at center stage in the modern sermon, replaced by life stories, testimonies, movie clips, skits and whatever else we think we need to do to keep the crowd entertained.  I belonged to a church, growing up, that read, verbatim, and entire passage from the Old Testament, an entire passage from the Epistles and an entire passage from one of the Gospels every single Sunday.  Nothing was added; just pure scripture.  There was a sermon too.  But I came to saving faith early in life without a singly altar call, without an official “sinner’s prayer”.  I believed His Word and was saved.

When the apostles preached, they filled their speech with God’s Word and their testimony about what Jesus had done.  And then the Spirit moved, with the proclamation of the Word.  Read through the book of Acts and notice how similar every sermon was, and how filled with scripture, and how devoid of novelty.  And the believers, after baptism, devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, to the breaking of Bread (Lord’s Supper) and to Prayer and the Lord added to their number daily.  (Acts 2:42-47)  And they did love one another greatly and gave to the needs of other believers.  But nothing implies that they obsessed with meeting every need everywhere.  The only thing they focused outwardly, the only “outreach”, was the proclamation of the gospel message.

Big Church is like Big Government

Since that time, we have spread ourselves very thin, I think.  I can’t help but compare the American Church with the government in our country.  The American government started with a clear job description, the Constitution.  But since then, the constitution has been left in the dust, by the tyranny of the perceived needs of the public.  And since it is part of the sinful nature to never be satisfied, we never stop coming with our list of needs and the government, like Pilate, fears the people more than God and bows to every public wind. 

Has the church become much different?  Structures of authority and accountability are seen as oppressive.  Pastors preach what they want, what they feel led to preach and there’s no one to call them to account if they go outside the word of God.  So instead of accountability from above: God, his Word and Pastors older than you in the faith, instead we have churches run by what an individual pastor feels “led” to do.  And should it surprise anyone, since a pastor’s paycheck comes from the tithes of church members that the members will hold considerable sway over his opinion?

Settling on a Standard

All that to say, what a congregation does, how it worships, how it serves, should be patterned after the Word of God.  The church does not need to be relevant, entertaining, or seeking to meet perceived needs.  The church serves to proclaim and different kingdom, to meet eternal needs, to be light in darkness.  I close with these words of Paul’s, which are often used to preach against marriage with unbelievers, but that is not the context of these verses.  Paul implies throughout 2 Corinthians that there are false teachers drawing the believers in Corinth away from Paul, teachers who “peddle the Word of God for a profit” and go beyond the simple message of the Gospel.  Paul urged them to maintain a pure faith, untainted by the world:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Therefore go out form their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)