Christian is as Christian does.

I've been having a great time in the book of Galatians – I’m leading our seniors through it once a month. They love having a young guy sounding the horn for faith alone; I love hearing their stories of hard-learned lessons of what following Christ looks like in one’s fifties, sixties, seventies, and even in one’s eighties. I love hearing them articulate that many whom they were raised to see as their enemies (e.g., Roman Catholics) aren't. I love hearing them explain that some Christian practices need to change, and are based more on traditions than on the clear teaching of the Scriptures.

Most recently we spent some time in the last bit of chapter 4. There, Paul compares the children of Hagar and Sara and Hagar (Ishmael and Isaac, respectively) to illustrate two ways we try to approach God: by the flesh (i.e., human effort, willpower) or by faith in God’s promises. In reading this chapter, it occurred to me that the ‘big idea’ that’s so easy for us to miss is that Christian is as Christian does. No, that doesn’t come from a deleted scene from Forrest Gump. It’s Paul’s point here.  

²¹ Tell me, those of you who want to be under the law, don't you hear the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. ²³ But the one by the slave was born according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. (Gal 4:21-23)

Why does Paul tell a bunch of Christians that gaining eternal life isn’t about the works of the Law? Because he wants them to make a choice. Just before this was written, the Galatians were being thrown into confusion by some who wanted them to go back to obedience to the Law of God as a basis for their justification before God. They argued that Paul was crazy, and that only observance of the Law, including the circumcision of new converts, was acceptable to God. Here in ch.4, Paul argues that the way of the flesh cannot achieve what it tries to. They have to make a choice now between putting their confidence in God’s promise, fulfilled in Christ, or in their own flesh:

³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a co-heir with the son of the free woman. (Gal 4:30)

In other words: there’s really no choice. All the willpower and human effort in the world can never save you.

For a typical evangelical, that seems like a no-brainer. But Paul says it anyway, because Christian is as Christian does. In other words, whatever Christian ‘team’ we claim to be on is really irrelevant; it’s the pattern of our living that matters. You can go to a church that teaches that salvation is by faith, and you can claim to believe it yourself, but the proof is in your lifestyle.

Many of the most legalistic people I know are very orthodox in their beliefs, and they look down on Roman Catholics as though they’re as hopeless as the devil himself. When I’m not careful, I can easily fall into legalism: confessing evangelically, but living legalistically, as though God should be impressed by my rule-making and rule-keeping, and He should be less impressed by those who don’t observe the same rules as me.  That’s why Paul’s letter to the Galatians is so important for us all: it reminds us that the real test of one’s faith isn’t in their profession of faith, but in their demonstration of it. The one who claims to believe in salvation by faith, but lives a legalistic, judgmental lifestyle is really no better off than the person who is at least honest enough to admit that they believe God should save them because they’ve never killed anyone and they did their best.  

What I and my friends need to be reminded of is that Tom the evangelical legalist is really in no better a position to inherit eternal life than Dick the nominal Catholic who lacks assurance of his salvation, but is hopeful that God has forgiven him because he did all his sacraments, and tried his best to keep his nose clean. Harry, who is spiritually interested but not a professing Christian looks on from the outside and doesn't see in these two one guy who obviously “gets it” and one who is hopelessly lost. Harry sees two guys who have nothing great to offer him or the world.

We’re not saved by our understanding of  salvation by grace through faith. We’re saved by grace through faith. And if that’s true, a couple of implications are stunning, if not uncomfortable:

First, it’s possible to believe truth and yet to not have been transformed by it. Lots of those who we would consider ‘born-again’ don’t trust that Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross was enough to secure their acceptance with God; instead they trust that their rule-keeping impresses God enough that He accepts them.

Second, it’s possible to have a cleansed heart but a confused mind. I've known lots of Catholics (most, sadly) who didn’t claim to understand what is meant by atonement, propitiation, justification, expiation, etc., and didn’t know their five Solas, but some of them nevertheless put me to shame by their faith-filled lives. They’re not guys like Harry, but people who really think Jesus is the big deal, even if they feel too insignificant to claim a relationship with Him. They’ve banked everything on the goodness and promises of God. That doesn’t mean that there’s another way, or that all Catholics are ‘saved’ – but it makes me hopeful that there are some who’ve been saved by faith even without knowing it.

And so Paul’s summary at the end of ch.4 is really important. It’s not  a new command to do something different, but a reminder of good news they heard a long time ago, but which they’ve forgotten:

³¹ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. (Gal 4:31)

Remember what you are, and live like it. Christian is as Christian does.

Why Porn is Making You Dumb

Sixteen reasons...

1. It makes you relationally dysfunctional. It drives you inward into an alternate reality in which you can experience pleasure “with” other people without really knowing them at all. You don’t need to talk to the woman you’re lusting over. She’ll never make fun of you, reject you, or even challenge your opinion. She doesn't even need you to brush your teeth, change your clothes, shave, or be polite. It’s your world, and it’s full of people who are way less maintenance than the ones you meet in real life.
2. It makes you a liar. Why were you so late for this morning’s meeting? Why can’t you stay awake in church? Why are there these weird charges on the credit card bill this month? Why is our computer acting up? How come you never want to seem to have sex anymore? Any man or woman who has wrestled with pornography – married or unmarried – has had to come up with quick, convincing responses (i.e., lies) to calm the concern behind questions like these. Porn makes you a skilled liar. 
3. It eats up time that should be spent doing more productive things. Like thinking. Like talking to someone. Like reading something. Like praying. Like thinking. Just because it’s late at night doesn't mean there won’t be an impact on your other responsibilities. The time you spend looking at porn will come from somewhere. 
4. It makes you paranoid. You constantly have to cover your tracks. You’re constantly deleting the history on your internet browser. You’re constantly wondering whether you might have forgotten to delete it, for fear that someone might accidentally find it, and you’ll be exposed. 
5. It keeps you from being able to appreciate real beauty in the world. Porn thrives on a utilitarian approach to the female body. The porn star isn't there to be known; she offers herself for your use. And if that’s what gets you really excited, you’ll never be in awe of a glorious sunrise, or majestic mountains, or the real beauty of a woman’s godly character. You’ll see these and know that you should be more impressed with them than you are, but you’re unable to appreciate them because you don’t know what purpose they serve. Mountains, sunrises, storms, etc., aren’t useful. Not in the way that a picture of a hot woman is useful. 
6. It lies to you about what women want. Like these women you’re staring at actually give a rip about you. Like they’re glad you’re back. They’re not. They don’t want you. They want money. They want drugs so that they don’t have to reckon with life. They want to forget what was done to them when they were little. They want to matter to someone– and if taking off their clothes is what makes them feel important, then that’s what they’ll do. They want to forget that somewhere out there is a daddy whose heart is breaking because of the choices his daughter is making with her life. And you’re the reason she’s doing it. 
7. It makes you think that it’s a victimless crime. Like the fact that you’re more excited about masturbating to images of women you've never met is okay with your wife, for whose sake you once vowed to forsake all others. Ask your wife if she’s okay with being your second choice for sexual fulfillment. 
8. It grows and grows and never lets go. The more you see, the more you want to see. The more risque it becomes. The more hard core it’ll have to be in order to interest you, until you’re disgusted with yourself for a) enjoying it, and b) not being able to stop. 
9. It’s costing many guys their jobs, and the risk of being fired doesn't seem to deter them. They actually believe they’ll never be caught. The truth is, most organizations monitor bandwidth usage, and if you’re looking at porn, your boss already knows it. They probably have a file. 
10. It’ll cost many guys their marriages and families, but they won’t believe that until it’s too late. 
11. It’ll send people to hell. Jesus said so: “But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell! (Matt.5:28-30 CSB) 
12. In the life of a Christian, the struggle with pornography – though a sin – is a defeated sin, and yet it has Christian men and women living like slaves. 
13. It renders you useless for ministry. It's not because God refuses to use you, but because your overwhelming guilt keeps you sitting on the sidelines. 
14. It makes us protect it – because even though God has promised an abundant life apart from this sin, to experience that life requires us to really repent – all the way – of this sin. For a lot of guys, letting go of their ‘precious’ is like letting go of their identity. Without this ongoing struggle, they wouldn't know who they are anymore, and that’s scary. 
15. It makes us fear the wrong thing. Like for this sin to be exposed would be the worst thing in the world. It wouldn't. For it never to come to light would be far worse, because it’d be a sign that God has given you over to it. In other words, confess it to someone you respect, and whom you trust to be able to guide you toward Gospel-centered recovery. 
16. It leads you to believe that God is either a) as dumb as you, or b) indifferent toward your sin. Wrong on both counts. You can lie to your friends, and your wife, and your pastor, and your family, and your church, but you cannot lie to God. And if you are lying to God about this – running from Him, rather than seeking His help to repent – then you’re probably lying to everyone else anyway. God is not mocked. You won’t be able to go on like this forever. It’s going to catch up with you. Either you’ll be found out, or you’ll get so sick of the shame that you refuse to give up, that you’ll seek to be free of it by giving up on God altogether.

Confess this sin to God. Believe that it’s forgiven. It is. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9 CSB). On the one hand, this battle is really simple, because porn’s power over you comes from the guilt and shame and fear it stirs up – and all of that was taken care of on the cross, where God “…made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Cor. 5:21 CSB), and  “…our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6 CSB)

If you have it in you to repent, do so. Look what this thing is doing to you – do you like being porn’s idiot? It’s making you dumb, and you must fight. I’m all for practical suggestions and setting boundaries for ourselves. I have many of my own. But none of those will make the temptation go away. The problem isn’t “out there” somewhere. It’s in me. It’s in you. It’s not going to go away easily. It’s a fight.  

Do you think you’re the only one who’s ever struggled with sexual temptation? You’re not. God promised, through the Apostle, that “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.” (1Cor. 10:13 CSB) So guess what? The good news about your lust problem is that you’re not special. You’re not beyond the reach of God’s grace. In this area, you’re not unique. It doesn’t have to be this way; there’s another way out. That’s a promise. 

Biblical Inerrancy Media Roundup

Here are some links to helpful resources that should deepen your appreciation of the importance of affirming the inerrancy of the Bible...

For a brief (5 minute) overview of what it means, watch this explanation by Don Carson:

Books:

• Greg Beale's book The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism: Responding to New Challenges to Biblical Authority. Check it out here.
• John Wenham's Christ and the Bible. Check it out here.

Articles:

• The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is essential reading, and can be read in pdf form here.
• An wikipedia explanation of  its origin can be read here.

Audio / Sermons:

• Wayne Grudem gave two lectures on the Bible's authority, three on its inerrancy, one on its necessity, two on its sufficiency, and those can be downloaded here.
• Matt Chandler led the men of his church through some awesome teaching about the pastoral value of affirming inerrancy. Awesome pastoral stuff here.
• Greg Beale's interviews (here and here) are very helpful for explaining why many of us don't really affirm inerrancy, even though we think we do.

On the Bible's Inerrancy...and Ten Ways to Show You Don't Believe it

In a few nutshells, inerrancy means that the human authors of Scripture didn’t record anything that God didn’t want them to record. What they wrote was the truth, and so today, to affirm the inerrancy of scripture means that whatever the Bible teaches as truth is actually true. Whatever the Bible wants us to believe is true is true. On that basis, we say that the Bible is the highest authority for us in all matters on which it teaches.  Its teaching is entirely trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative for us. That’s why the authority, sufficiency, and inerrancy of the Scriptures are usually part of the same section in your theology textbook. God’s people are to bow before God’s Word, accepting it and submitting to it.

Sometimes when I consider the debates within evangelicalism (three that come immediately to mind are the nature of hell, the practice of homosexuality, and everyone’s favourite elephant in the room: gender roles) I wonder whether those on either side agree that God’s book makes no mistakes. They probably think they do. Don’t we all think we do? I think I do. But the test of the Bible’s authority isn’t in the degree to which it agrees with us, or even in our being able to say that the Bible is inerrant. The real test of our belief in the inerrancy of the Bible is in what happens when we don’t like what the Bible teaches about something.

What do we do when a text offends us? What do we do when what seems to be the clear teaching of a passage strikes us as culturally regressive? What do we do when that text seems to say things about God that we don’t want to be true? What do we do when the Bible seems to call us to do things that we don’t much want to do? The answer to questions like these is a far better indicator of whether or not we believe the Bible is inerrant, or authoritative. Why?

When we don’t like what the Bible teaches, there are different approaches to saying so without really saying so. Each of these is a subtle way of showing that regardless of what you think, the Bible isn’t really authoritative for you, but something else is. Each of these is a way of showing that something (usually a cultural assumption or pre-commitment) has eroded your view of the inerrancy of the Bible. Ten examples:

·         The Postmodern approach: “No thanks – your claim to truth is just another way for you to try to control me, and your certainty is arrogant. Of that I’m certain.”

·         The “Reject the Clear in Favour of the Vague” approach: “This passage seems to be saying…(insert highest consensus interpretation here) but because of… (insert rare, unlikely-but-not-impossible interpretive option here) it could also mean such-and-such.

·         The “Principle-Trumps-Text” approach: “That’s not really what this passage means, because… (insert God / love / salvation here) is… (insert positive attribute here) and that would be a contradiction.”

·         The “History Trumps Study” approach: “Well I was always taught that that means (insert unchallenged, traditionalist interpretation here).”

·         The “Love for Jesus Qualifies Me” approach: “I’m no theologian; I’m just a pastor, so …” or “I’m no theologian; I’m just trying to help people get saved”

·         “Evangelical Papal Deference”: “Hmmm. Interesting.” (Then leaves to see what celebrity teacher X has taught about this text first. That teacher’s view is adopted as their own.)

·         “Chronological Snobbery”: “Yeah, but what the author didn’t understand at the time is that…”

·         The “Canon-within-a-Canon” approach: “Yes, but you can’t take that seriously, because Jesus said…, and he’s the Son of God.”

·         The “No Explanations Welcome” approach: “There’s no way that happened / is true. You’d have to be an idiot to believe (insert biblical proposition). I just can’t imagine that God would…”

·         The “Authority by Bandwidth” approach: “Yeah, but this is just one passage. I don’t want to put too much stock in one passage.”

What difference might it make in some of the debates in the church if we were to pause for a while and revisit the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible? I think it might help. If we could be reminded – in a pastoral, devotional way, not an academic, cavalier, this-is-interesting-but-there’s-nothing-really-at-stake way – that there are no mistakes in the Bible, and that what’s there is really what God means for us to believe and practice, then I can’t help by think that we might make some progress in some of these debates.

A qualification: submitting to the Bible doesn’t make the discomfort go away. But that’s how you know you’re submitting. It’s not submission unless you disagree. Otherwise it’s called consensus.

This issue is worth our attention. Where God’s people affirm the inerrancy of the Scriptures, debates and discussions take a different tone altogether. That’s a practical reason we need to recover the doctrine of the Bible’s inerrancy. There are better reasons, and I need to spend some time wrestling through the meaning of each. And so do you. Here are some of those reasons, and I aim to turn these into future posts:

·         Because it’s God’s book.

·         Because it’s counter-cultural

·         Because an errant Bible can’t be authoritative

·         Because reliable and authoritative aren’t the same thing

·         Because the Bible can’t be true about some things and not true about others

·         Because it’s the only way to maintain both the divine and human origin of the Bible

Nineteen Things We Assume the Bible Teaches Clearly but Doesn't Regarding Manhood and Womanhood in Marriage

I'm very thankful (and a little shocked) at the amount of people who thanked me for my message on Sunday about God's unique calling on wives and moms in the context of the family. I didn't have time during the first service to go through this list, but I did promise I'd post it on my blog. So here it is...

1. That it’s wrong for a woman to wear makeup, nice clothes, and care about what she looks like. 
2. That marriage is commanded, such that it’s a sin to be unmarried. 
3. That a wife’s submission is because she’s weaker, or less intelligent. 
4. Which kinds of clothing are “modest” and which are “immodest” 
5. That headship is easier than submission. 
6. That the man must lead every prayer and family devotion 
7. That it’s okay to abuse a woman in any way. 
8. That for God to give certain roles to some that He doesn't give to others necessarily implies that they’re superior in some way to the ones who aren't given those roles. 
9. That its’ the dad’s job to disciplines the kids (when he gets home from work.) 
10. That Eve was deceived because she was more gullible than the man. 
11. That the husband mediates the relationship between his wife and God. 
12. That a woman should submit to her husband instead of to God. 
13. That a wife must say ‘yes’ every time a husband asks her to do something.
14. That a wife can’t correct her husband when he’s in the wrong 
15. That every woman must submit to every man. 
16. Which activities in the home are for women, and which are for men 
17. Which characteristics are ‘masculine’ and which are ‘feminine’. 
18. What headship and submission will look like in every season of married life.
19. That headship and submission will look exactly the same in every Christian home.

Okay, so Bell may be a Universalist.

I changed my mind. I read the book after all. It was only fair, and turned out to be a pretty decent read. It only took a couple of hours. Had it been formatted like most other books, it could have been about 75 pages, but Rob Bell doesn't...

work..

that...

way.

It turns out he's been influenced pretty heavily by N.T. Wright's perspectives on the Kingdom of God and its implications for our mission in the here and now. He's also been influenced pretty heavily by Tim Keller's preaching / teaching on the parable of the lost sons (a la The Prodigal God). Bell seems to put his own spin on their views, and the result is a good read. I still think that his point about most Christians not believing that God is good is a valid one - one that we need to take seriously.

But I have some great ideas for how to win an argument about our eternal destiny, based on what I've seen in Love Wins:

1. Redefine words/concepts like love, heaven, hell.
2. Attach my views to historical figures like Origen, Augustine, etc., without quoting them directly.
3. Win the Reformed by suggesting that Martin Luther thinks I might be right...but again, don't quote him.
4. Don't answer the questions the interviewers and fans are asking me about what I do and don't believe.
5. Make fun of Christians who I disagree with.
6. Make fun of what lots of Christians believe.
7. Make a case that my view is something that the uncomfortable texts could possibly mean - and ignore the likely, clearer meaning wherever possible.
8. Couch my theology in anecdotal stories of suffering and pain so that would-be critics will feel guilty.
9. Shave my head and wear thick-rimmed glasses.
10. Don't support my propositions; just state my assumptions so unilaterally that any would-be critic will be afraid to argue with them, thinking These must be true; he speaks as though they're so obvious!

I haven't read Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins, and I probably won't, realistically. I'm glad he wrote it, though. While most evangelicals at the moment are scouring the book for quotes to 'prove' he's a Universalist, I find myself wrestling with the idea that he makes in a roundabout, biblically indefensible, historically inaccurate, and academically irresponsible way. What is it?

We don't believe God is good.

Boom. Come one. It's true, though, isn't it?

I just finished watching an interview with Bell in which he did some Q&A with a live audience, explaining his views of heaven, hell, etc. You can watch the whole thing here. I found it frustrating to no end. Bell doesn't like to talk about hell. When people ask him direct questions about what he believes about hell, (e.g., Dr. Ron Walborn, at approximately 55:00 in the video) he says lots of cool stuff and tells heartbreaking stories of people's pain and longing, but he doesn't answer the question. That's frustrating. And people who are looking for Bell to back up his views with biblical texts will be frustrated too. I have the distinct sense that Bell feels compelled to circumvent the Scriptures in order to prove that God is good. That's frustrating. And as he repeatedly explains, love must have the freedom to choose...so God doesn't send people to hell because they're not part of the right religion, club, etc., but because they choose to resist Him. For Bell, heaven and hell is all about the crucial reality that our choices have consequences, and therefore God doesn't send anyone to hell - hell is a present reality and we see it all around us. We create it for ourselves when we resist what God is about. Does that sound ambiguous? It is. And that's frustrating too. Trying to understand what Bell believes is like trying to pin Jello to the wall. That's frustrating.

The thing is, I think Bell is on to something. Toward the end of the video, Bell answers a person's question by exposing the reality that what most of us think we're presenting as 'good news' isn't really. "If you reject what I've said tonight and walk out of here and get hit by a car, God is going to send you to hell forever." And the thing is, as Bell says, any of us who had a Dad who could switch so quickly from love to wrath would be afraid of him; we'd want to be as far from him as possible. We'd see him as toxic, abusive, and fundamentally corrupt.

Bell's reductionist take on the criteria of judgment notwithstanding, he's on to something. His point is that the question behind the question of "what is the good news?" or "does God love me?" is the question "Is God good?" and "Can I really trust Him?" If salvation reconciles us to a God we don't actually love, how is that good? If in our most honest moments, we don't actually believe that God is good, then all our worship and devotion are a smokescreen. They're the epitome of hypocrisy.

Our greatest need in this is to see that God is good. My fear is that most of us don't. We think we do, but we've chosen not to answer certain tough questions the Bible raises. It may be a better answer to these questions than Bell's book is Paul Copan's Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God. Nevertheless, thank you, Rob Bell for forcing us to think. Thank you for forcing me to think. When the dust settles, and you've taken some hits because you're an inconsistent Pelagian, and you don't seem to care about the meaning of words, I hope you won't be too discouraged by the attacks of Evangelicals. I, for one, think you're on to something.

Blog Series: Reasons Not to Leave a Church

Over the next weeks, I intend to blog the reasons not to leave a church. I'm challenging Christians to be fully engaged in the life of the local church that they're a part of. There are at least five reasons for this:

1. The culture we live in encourages people to 'check things out' to make sure it's a good 'fit'. While I understand this approach, it can't be an indefinite one. People who remain in the "checking it out" period indefinitely will eventually find something that turns them off, offends them, disappoints them, etc. Can you imagine if that happened at a gym? Manager: "Sir, you've been exercising here every week for the last six months. I'm afraid if you don't join us as a member, you can't keep using our facilities" User: "Come on! I'm still checking it out!!!"
2. I'm reading books by a lot of guys in my generation encouraging people to drop out of the "institutional" church and do the more 'biblical' thing which is to start a house church. While I have nothing against the house church movement per se, I have a lot against much of the dichotomizing between the "Church" (note the really big 'C', which is the same letter as Jesus' last name, meaning it's really important) and the institutional "church" (note the small, insignificant, easy-to-offend-with-no-consequence 'c'). People are being encouraged to leave their churches for any and every reason, and that's not cool.
3. A lot of our culture believes that formal church membership is a human invention of later Christians, rather than a deliberate practice of the early church.
4. A growing disillusionment with the church, rooted in an assumption that Constantine's legalizing of Christianity is the reason the church went south, such that there were two periods of church history: the Early (i.e., uncorrupted, denomination-free) church, and everything since.
5. The celebration of authors referred to in #2 as prophetic. "Prophetic"!? Seriously? 

Before I do, I fully admit the following qualifications:

1. I've left a church in which I was very heavily involved. Not all of my reasons for doing so were God-honoring, but some of them were. We'll talk about that later.
2. Leaving a church isn't necessarily a sin. I think it can be, and often is, but even then, it isn't the unpardonable sin. 
3. Lots of churches are messed up - and there are lots of reasons for that. Most of the time, it's the people leading it. Nevertheless, not all churches are worth saving. It may be that a local church's dysfunction is Jesus' way of saying "Ichabod: the glory of the Lord has departed" (a la 1Sam 4:21) and Himself shutting it down, so that it cannot do any more damage to the watching community.
4. Lots of us have been hurt - sometimes deeply - by people in the church. Sometimes pastors have been the cause of some of the deepest offenses. When you're hurt at church, by people who should know better, it's hard to get over. Not impossible. But hard. I get that.  

I. [1Corinthians 12:14-27]

I love the church. Unfortunately, when many people think of the church, they think of this: 

Today more than ever before it’s cool to make fun of the church. It’s not only acceptable to criticize local churches, but there’s actually a growing movement of Christians who are leaving the ‘institutional’ church, starting house churches, and it’s considered progressive. It’s more spiritual. It’s closer to what Jesus had in mind. It’s what you need to do if you want to really experience Jesus. It comes from books like:

• Life After Church: God’s Divine Call to Disillusioned Christians; 
• Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God; 
• Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation
• Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What to do About it; 
• So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore; 
• Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of our Church Practices; 
• Revolution: Finding Vibrant Faith Beyond the Walls of the Sanctuary; 
• UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...And Why it Matters
• They Like Jesus but Not the Church

And in those books, you’ll read things like this:

•  “Rather than draw people out of the world and into a relationship with an institution, Revolutionaries demonstrate what it means to be the presence of God wherever you are.” –George Barna 
•  “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost their faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.” - Reggie McNeal 
• “If the local church is the hope of the world, then the world has no hope.” –George Barna 

I agree that there are some serious problems in some churches, but we’re going to see today that while some see the local church as the problem, the Bible, rightly understood, shows that the church is actually the solution

II. Context:

The church in Corinth was a mess; they’re divided into two camps: the super-spiritual “varsity Christians”, and everyone else. And it showed up in a lot of conflicts they had:

• · Over teachers: varsity Christians followed Apollos; everyone else followed Paul. 
• · Over sexual rights (ch. 5) –there’s a guy sleeping with his mother or step-mother; some think he should not be welcome in the church until he repents; the varsity Christians were willing to put up with it because he seems to be someone of status (e.g., Brad Pitt), and maybe having him around will bring more people into the church. 
• · Over civil issues; (ch.6); they can’t settle their disagreements through face-to-face discussion, so they take each other to court…they’re too proud to apologize, or admit their wrong. 
• · Over marriage rights (ch.7) – some were spreading the teaching that marriage is for the weak; because if you’re a varsity Christian, you can control yourself; you don’t need marriage. 
• · Over food rights (ch.8) – if you went to the market to buy meat, the best deal was on meat that had come from the bulls and lambs that had been sacrificed to the local gods. But the varsity Christians were saying, “No, no no – that meat was offered to an idol – if you eat that it’ll make you unclean.” 
• · Over spiritual gifts (12-14) – The members of the church in Corinth had been given all kinds of different gifts by the Holy Spirit – but there grew this hierarchy of spiritual gifts. The varsity Christians spoke in tongues, and if you wanted to be as spiritual as they are, you should speak in tongues too.

Sum: and do you see what’s at the bottom of it all? Pride. Because these varsity Christians believed that the whole church should be like them, it was resulting in divisions and splits, and all kinds of hurt feelings.

III. Text 

I would argue that the same mindset or attitude that was leading these so-called varsity Christians to divide the church at Corinth is alive and well today. In fact I’d say that the same attitude that led some of the Corinthians to look down on those who weren't like them is the same attitude that is leading some evangelicals to give up on church altogether.

To do that, I want us to look at 1Corinthians 12 (p.881) where Paul responds to the divisions by giving them a picture: a body. As messed up and as divided as they are, they’re still one. They’re still a church. In fact, not only are they a church, but they are the church according to (v.27). George Ladd comments:

“The congregation in Corinth was anything but a “holy” people in terms of life and conduct; …Still, it was a congregation of saints, of the sanctified, because in spite of the sinful conduct of many of its members and the worldly character of the church itself, it was still the church of God in Corinth.” George Eldon Ladd

*Goal: The greatest danger to the health of the Body of Christ is the cancer of pride.Let's compare and contrast what it would look like if you could have church the way you want it, with what it should look like when the church functions the way the Spirit wants it to. There are four things based on this passage that I think we should see in a church that functions his way…

1. Every member has a unique role 

[vv.12, 14, 20 - one body with many parts / members] Explain: no single member of the body can claim to possess all that the Body ought to have. The Body should have eyes – eyes are great; but there should also be ears, hands, feet, noses, etc., etc. And we’re better off this way!

Paul explains it in [vv.15-16] Explain: Every member of the body belongs; not matter how insignificant they think they might be compared to other members.

He goes on: [v.17] Explain: The ability to see well is great, but good sight isn’t the only thing a Body needs.

Illustration: Your sight won’t protect the body from danger when the lion is hiding behind a tree. So seeing is great, but seeing plus hearing is even better. And being expert at hearing is great, but at mealtime it’s not your hearing that helps you enjoy food, but your sense of smell. So hearing is great, but hearing plus smelling is better. So in the Body of Christ, there are many, diverse, unique members, and each member belongs.

Why is Paul saying this? Because church is messy. I have a hunch that if we’re honest, most people like diversity in theory, but not in practice. On one hand, it’s great to be able to look around your church family and see people who represent all the races, languages, cultures, classes, education, spiritual gifts, etc. On the other hand, these diverse people bring with them diverse views and commitments that can make church life messy. But here, God’s Word is telling us that that’s not a problem – it’s the sign that this is truly the Body of Christ. Pride will lead us toward sameness; the Spirit of God will lead us to embrace and wrestle with our diversity.

“Paul’s vision of the body of Christ is of a unity which consists in diversity, that is, a unity which is not denied by diversity, but which would be denied by uniformity” James D.G. Dunn

You see, if I’m honest, and if I could have church my way, and if you could have it yours, it would be full of people just like me, right? Think of how much conflict and stress and meetings we could avoid if everyone just thought like I do. But here, Paul is saying that (Big Idea) In the Body of Christ, a church that experiences tension and mess because of its diversity is actually better off than a church that experiences none.

2. Every member is God-given. 

Now at this point, you may be wondering if this is going to be one of those sermons where you come away feeling beaten up because the preacher thinks you’re too proud. And that’s not what I’m trying to do – what I do want to do though, is to hold up this passage as a sort of mirror, and invite you to look into it and ask is this Word for me? Not ­“ooh, I can’t wait for so-and-so to hear this.” But honestly: “Is there something that God might be saying to me?” 

Have you never said to yourself or someone else “This would be a great church if the leaders would just…” or “We spend too much time on A, B, and C – we need to be doing more of X, Y, and Z!” And maybe those are all fine things, and maybe they’re even biblical, but what we’re really saying is that “I’ve got the vision for this church, and if everyone else would just get on board with my vision, then we’d be great.”

And there’s only one problem with that – you’re one person. And you think your vision is the one we should all follow, but so do we all! And I love that Paul answers that kind of pride with theology. He spells it out here: [v.18] Explain: It isn't an accident that there are all these gifts, opinions, and preferences. The Spirit did this on purpose. God placed the parts in the body just as he wanted. He says it again in v.24: “God so composed the Body…”

Big Idea: In the Body of Christ, there’s something better than getting everything you want - it’s getting what he wants.

3. Every member is necessary. 

Vv.21-22: Every member is needed. “all the more” (v.22)

Why does Paul need to tell the “eye” that it needs the hands too (v.21)? Why does he need to tell the head that the feet are necessary?

I think it’s because if you’re a head or an eye, you’ll tend to be busier than hands and feet. That doesn’t make them less important, but less busy. And if you’re a head and eye, it’s easy to get proud and look at the other parts and say “What do you do around here?! I’m an eye; I’m a head! You’re just a hand. You’re nothing but a foot. We could get along fine without you.” And Paul confronts that kind of pride, saying, “No. That’s wrong.”

There are times in the life of a body when the eyes are busier than the hands; and there are times when the head is busier than the feet. But that doesn’t make them dead weight; it doesn’t mean we can do without them. You know, if I could have the church just how I like it, if I’m honest, it would probably be full of people just like me who are active all the time in all the same ways…and anyone who isn’t involved in those ways would be dead weight. I could do without them. But here, Paul is saying that’s wrong. We can’t afford to lose any members. We can’t afford to be dismembered.

Illustration: Do you know what it’s like to lose a part of your body? It’s about the worst pain you can imagine. My friend’s accident: Chaos, panic, physical and emotional agony. He has prosthetic legs that help him get around, but they’ll never be as good as the real thing; he’ll never be as mobile in his chair as he was on his feet.

Big Idea: In the Body of Christ, each member is absolutely necessary, so to be dis-membered is painful and serious.

4. Every member is responsible for every other. 

[vv.23-24 ] I wrestled with what Paul means here, but I think I’ve got it. Illustration: being naked in front of a crowd. In a healthy body, you cover up those parts that aren’t presentable. But what happens if there are divisions in that body? The hands might say – “Forget it. You’re on your own!” and refuse to help out the parts that can’t help themselves.

You might think “Why are there any unpresentable parts on a healthy body? Why would the Holy Spirit want a healthy body to include unpresentable parts” If I’m honest, if I could have the church my way, there would be no unpresentable parts –it would be full of beautiful people doing beautiful things that get us all sorts of respect in the world’s eyes.

But Paul answers this when he says, [v.25-26]. Explain: i.e., these unpresentable parts actually help us to build unity. They make us more able to look after each other. Because that part is just as much a member of the body as you are, your own health as a member of the body is inextricably linked to theirs.

“As in a body, the pain of one member is the pain of all. If you smash your finger with a hammer, you may exclaim with equal appropriateness, I hurt my finger! or I hurt myself! …So must it be in the church. No Christian is to think in individualistic terms, but in terms of the body.” Don Carson

Big Idea: In the Body of Christ, no member is truly independent; in reality, they are inter-dependent.

Sum: As you look at that list, maybe it seems to you crazy, if not a bit unrealistic. Every one of these four points runs counter to the way our culture works, and the way we would run the church, if it were up to us. A place where everyone belongs – matter how different they are? And it’s God’s idea? A place where every member is needed? A place where everyone supports each other – rather than kicking out whoever is the weak link? Come on! How can that even work?

Let’s be honest – Unless you only come around on Sunday mornings, church life is messy. Unless you only come around on Sunday mornings, you’ve probably had to serve alongside people you wouldn’t normally get along with. You’ve probably felt over-extended and tired. Maybe you felt frustrated because things aren’t happening as quickly as you’d like. I get that. But if what Paul says here is true, then the mess isn’t the problem – the mess is a sign that we’re getting it. And so we have a choice to make: when life in this Body isn’t going exactly how we’d like it, what will we do?

Dropouts: if you’re like the growing number of people in my generation, you’re going to drop out. You’ll leave your church, grab a handful of friends who are just like you, and you’ll start a house church. Now I have no problem with house churches in principle; but I have a big problem with people giving up on the local church – as though dropping out is for Varsity Christians, and ‘church’ is for the rest of us.

IV. Before you Leave: 5 heart-check questions: 

Let me invite you to take a minute to do a bit of a heart-check. I hope you see by now that the real problem isn't with the church as an organization, or as an institution – it’s Christians. The problem is me. And it’s you. There may be a few good reasons to leave a church (I may blog about those later). But before you or someone you know drops out of a church, or if you know someone who has, let me invite you and them to wrestle with a few questions…

1. Do I only hang out with people like me at church? 

• Am I trying to welcome all newcomers, or only those who dress and think and talk like me? 

2. Am I bored of hearing the gospel in sermons? 

• Do I want something else? 
• Am I excited to hear of new implications of the gospel for my life, or am I ready for something “deeper”? 
• There is nothing deeper. You don’t become a Christian by hearing the gospel, and then grow more mature by learning something else.
  If you’re tired of hearing about Jesus, the cross, heaven, hell, forgiveness, repentance, then your problem isn’t with the church. 

3. Must I always have my way at church? 

• Am I convinced that I’m the only one that knows God’s will for this church? Am I frustrated with my knucklehead pastors and elders who don’t seem to be listening to me? Or am I willing to humble myself and submit when we disagree over secondary matters? 
• It may be that the thing that frustrates you about church is the very thing that God has gifted you to help change; it may be that the thing that you’re having a hard time accepting is the very thing that God wants to use to teach you patience, and perseverance, and commitment. And if you leave, you’ll miss out on that. 

4. How committed am I to making my church a healthy expression of the Body of Christ? 

• Am I willing to commit in membership, or do I want to keep my options open? 
• Have I given my brothers and sisters here permission to keep me accountable and help me grow in my faith, or would I rather keep them at a safe distance? 
• Would my role be missed if I were gone, or do I leave it to others to do all of the ministry here? 
• "We must grasp once again, the idea of church membership as being the membership of the body of Christ and as the biggest honour which can come a man's way in this world." -Martyn Lloyd-Jones 
• "If the church is a building, then we must be bricks in it; if the church is a body, then we are its members; if the church is a household of faith, then we are part of that household. Sheep are in a flock, and branches on a vine. Biblically, if we are Christians we must be members of a church. This membership is not simply the record of a statement we once made or of affection toward a familiar place. It must be the reflection of a living commitment or it is worthless." -Mark Dever 

5. How well am I known at church? 

• Have I made myself available for others to love me? 
• Does anyone here know the sins I struggle with and pray for me, or am I critical because Christians are too superficial? 
• Who would miss me if I were gone? 
• And if I left, would I even tell anyone that I was leaving and why? 

V. Conclusion: 

I love the church. I hope you do too. I hope you can see that the church is worth keeping. I hope that after this, you have a bit more perspective, and that you can see that maybe the things that drive you crazy about the church are the very things that show that God is at work here. Look at it this way - at least we're not  Corinth! But the Spirit of God was there. And he’s here – building this Body of Christ – out of imperfect people like you and me, and those who have been hurt by church people, and those who hurt church people.

One of the other metaphors that the Scriptures use to describe the church is the Bride of Christ. It’s the idea that someday, the church and Jesus are getting married. It seems to me that if anyone had reason to leave the church, it was Jesus. But not only will Jesus not leave her. While so many people in my generation are making fun of the church, Jesus is getting ready to marry her. She’s his fiancée, warts and all, and Jesus will never divorce her. 

The Power of Possessions and the Greater Glory of Jesus

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mat 5:6 NAS)

Question: what was the most amazing Christmas present you ever got? Where is it now?

Is it a little disturbing to see so many people’s treasures going for so little at a thrift store? Is it a little upsetting that the stuff that means so much to you might end up here? If so, the problem probably isn’t that we have too much stuff – that may be – but the problem is probably that we’re too attached to it. It means more to us than it should. A.W. Tozer called this a monstrous substitution:

“The pronouns my and mine look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.”

The message that Jesus presents in this short verse is one that fills the Bible. If we want to understand the idol of possessions, there are four things we need to understand first: (1) The nature of the human heart (2) Why our property seems to satisfy us (3) Why Jesus is better.

II. The nature of the human heart
Illustration: Sense of glory; it’s how you know that something is awesome, breathtaking, mind-blowing. You were created with this hunger and thirst; and it was given to us so that we could enjoy God. Listen to this:

• As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? (Psa 42:1 )

• God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water…. .5 You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. (Psa 63:1-5 )

• How lovely is Your dwelling place, LORD of Hosts. 2 I long and yearn for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God. (Psa 84:1-2 )

• Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of the wicked. (Psa 84:10 )

It’s easy to forget that the guys who wrote the Bible were real people with real problems, struggles and joys, and yet they really believed this stuff: God is satisfying. The human heart actually has the ability to be satisfied in God. Do you get that? We’re born with this appetite; it’s a massive hunger and thirst for what’s glorious; we’re at our most satisfied when it’s being filled with God, but everyone’s going to satisfy it with something.

John Calvin used to say that “the human heart is an idol factory.”

Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”

That’s why Isaiah said:

• Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live.” (Isa 55:1-3 )

Illustration: Mileski Thanksgiving.

Big Idea: And so the thing we need to know as we begin is that our hearts hunger and thirst for something glorious – and so we’ll fill it with something – either Jesus, or a counterfeit.

III. Why does our property seem to satisfy us?
(1) We use our stuff to earn other people’s respect and admiration.
(Acts 5:1-11 re: Ananias and Saphira).

Big idea: To most everyone, it looked like they loved God; they looked really generous, and really committed. We don’t know how Peter knew the truth, but in the end, it wasn’t what they gave, but what they kept back that destroyed them. They thought they were in control of their property, but the reality is that it controlled them. It was an idol. It had taken God’s place in their lives. And they wanted everyone to believe they were on board with Jesus; their property proved them wrong. Their property made liars out of them.

In the same way, how many of us have made strategic purchases of things – not because we need it; not even because we want it; but because of the respect it gives us among our peers? Our stuff is our ticket to being ‘in’ with them; being accepted: “Oooooh, you own an iPad?! Why not come over and let me have a look?” or “Oooooh, did you hear about Jane in the next office? I heard she just got one of those new electric cars! I’m going to ask her to let me take it for a ride.”

This isn’t just a problem for people out there, right? Churches can be just as guilty of this, right? Here we have a big, beautiful, hundred-year-old building, that looks like a castle, and it’s in the heart of downtown: “Ooooh, you’ve been in the same building for a hundred years; I admire that! You still have stained glass – so few churches these days have stained glass; I admire you. Your building is paid off; I admire that! You have no coffee stains on your carpets; I admire that.” And that feels really, really good, doesn’t it? But whether we’re Christians or not, that respect and admiration can be really satisfying – but at the end of the day, it’s not what we were made for. It’s a counterfeit.

(2) We use our stuff to prove how important we are. 
(Luke 18:18-23 re: the Rich Young Ruler)

Big idea: He told Jesus he was willing to do whatever it takes to gain eternal life; he wasn’t. Again, his property made a liar out of him. It was an idol for him – it had replaced God in his heart. If righteousness meant selling all his stuff and giving away all his money, he wouldn’t. He couldn't imagine life without it: “Who would I be without my stuff? Don’t you know who I am?! I’m the rich young ruler! I can’t be without my stuff – I’d have no status! I’d be just like everyone else. No way!” And I know that sounds crazy to us, but we do it all the time, don’t we? Of course we do, because our property can be a badge of our importance; they point to our glory, and that is really satisfying!

Illustration: I recently read about a missionary who returned to the field after a year’s furlough, and after he left, one of his friends back home asked him: “What struck you the most in the time you were home with us?” He answered: “What struck me the most was how people use their houses to make statements to each other; their houses aren’t just places to keep warm and dry, but showcases to display their wealth and impress each other.” (Alcorn)

Is it a sin to own a nice house? Is it a sin, for example, to live in Ancaster? Or Dundas? No. But let’s be honest – why did you really move out there? Was it because God was calling you to reach out to the wealthy or upper-middle-class neighbours? Probably not. You’re probably like a lot of people who can’t stand the thought of living downtown with its crime, and smells, and noise. And besides – everyone knows only the really important people can afford to live in Dundas and Ancaster, right? And there’s something really satisfying about that. -And again – this isn’t something that’s just happening out there somewhere, is it? When we’re honest, we know this. We use our property like a trophy. When you’re recognized as the most important, or intelligent, or published person in your neighbourhood, your church, your family, etc., you find some satisfaction in that, because there’s glory in it. But it’s not the real thing. It’s an idol; a counterfeit.

(3) We use our stuff to earn our freedom. 
(Luke 12:15-21 re: the Rich Fool.)

Big Idea: He thought that because he’s got so much saved up, he’ll never need to work again. He can relax for the rest of his life because as long as his barns are full, there’s nothing to worry about. As long as his barns are full, nothing can harm him. If he wants to play Wii for eight hours, and sleep for the other twelve, he can. If he wants to sell a bit of it and buy a sweet home theatre and watch the Star Wars trilogy every day, he can. As long as his barns are full, he can do whatever he wants. He’s safe; he’s secure; he’s free. God calls him a fool. He’s a fool because he wasted his life hording his stuff and gave no thought to God’s will for his life. He’s a fool because he thought that his abundance gave him freedom to live the good life; in the end, his stuff kept him out of the good life God wanted for him. How does it happen? Check this out -

Illustration: my iPhone. Glorious and dangerous! With this one gadget, I can do email, texting, phone, weather, news, calculator, gps, clock, Bible, guitar tuner, and MP3 player. I have this with me and I feel free – I never have to worry about getting lost again, or getting caught in a storm, or missing an important message. And there’s glory in that! There’s glory in being able to protect yourself from loss and harm. There’s glory in having the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want to do it. It’s satisfying, but the trouble is, one day you wake up and you find yourself at church, and you realize that everyone’s singing about God’s majesty, and How Great is Our God – and you’re like: “yeah, I guess.”

It’s not that you’re against Jesus – it’s just that he’s no big deal anymore. You don’t hunger and thirst for him like you once did. You don’t really need him anymore –you’ve got the counterfeit; you’re “free”.

Sum: So our property can be a powerful idol: it gets us respect and admiration. It shows the world how important we are. It frees us from the worries of life. And there’s glory in all of that. And whether you’re a Christian or not, the result is that we’re part of a culture who can’t hunger and thirst for righteousness because we’re already full. We’re stuffed. And our sense of glory is numb. We’ve so satisfied ourselves with stuff that when Jesus presents himself as a feast, he’s just not a big deal. And if that’s you today, then what you need more than anything – more than any advice about simplifying your lifestyle, or giving it all away, or changing your behaviours – is to be convinced in your heart that Jesus is better.

IV. Three reasons why Jesus is better: 

(1) You don’t have to earn his admiration.

When you’re using your stuff to impress others, and to buy your way into the cool group, it’s an idol. If it’s a source of boasting and pride for you, you don’t really own your property – it owns you. You’ll never part with it. At least not voluntarily. And we can talk all day about how committed and devoted we are to God’s mission, but when push comes to shove, our property will call us liars. Just like Ananias and Saphira, you’ll use your stuff to buy people’s respect, and when push comes to shove, it doesn’t work. People won’t really respect you for what you’ve got. We think that’s respect; that’s admiration; that’s acceptance; that’s love. It’s not. It’s a counterfeit. Jesus is better. He loves you. He really does. His love for you has nothing to do with what you own, or what you can afford. It has nothing to do with what you can offer him. It’s not for sale. His love is yours just because you’re his; he made you, and he knows you better than you know yourself. Is there glory in that? Sure there is. He loves you like no one else can. And that’s free. In fact, it’s already yours, whether you know it or not. That’s amazing. Could that satisfy you? I think it could.

(2) You can’t prove your worth to him 

If your property is the symbol of your status, then you’ll never give it up – even if God asks you to. We’re like the Rich Young Ruler – we can say that we love God with all we’ve got; and we’ve loved our neighbour, and that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to follow Jesus; but if, in your honest moments, God is telling you “Sell it. Give it away. Move downtown” then my fear is that there may be some here who would walk away from Jesus and be “very sad”. When we define our worth and our value in terms of what we own, it doesn’t work. There’s always a bigger, nicer home. There’s always a faster car. There’s going to be an iPhone 5; then a 6. Bet on it. And when you aren’t the first person to have one, you’ll feel worthless. You’ll feel small. You won’t know who you are anymore. Jesus is better. He knows your value. He gave it to you. In the Gospel, we’re free from the need to impress God, because how do you impress the one who made the universe? You’ve got a dishwasher that gets every dish clean; you’ve got an oven that cleans itself; you’ve got a microwave that knows when to stop cooking your popcorn. God says: “Ooooh! Those are cool tricks. Guess what – I made the world.” How does any of our stuff compare to the ability to speak a world into being? He’s the Son of God…and he’s on your side. You don’t need to prove yourself to him – He proved himself to you when he let himself be tortured and killed for you. Is that amazing? Is that glorious? The world was made by him and for him. At every second, he’s keeping the whole thing from flying apart. What can you do? “Well, I’ve got an app that can make my voice sound like a robot…” or “My house has central vac.” Come on. Can he satisfy you? Do you think you can out-thirst his ability to fill you? I doubt it. Is your hunger for glory bigger than what he can fill? No way. He’s better.

(3) Jesus offers a true and better freedom. 

If we count on our stuff to save us when we’re in trouble, to protect us, to keep us safe – not only is it an idol, but we put a weight on it that it just can’t carry. It can’t make your problems go away – not your real problems. It can’t heal your pain – not your real pains. But most of all, your stuff can’t die for your sins. We can talk all day long about how much we trust God, and how we’ve been saved by the grace of Jesus, but if our functional saviour is our stuff, then we’re no different from the Rich Fool – we can eat, drink, and entertain ourselves to death – and God’s Word will call us a fool. Why? Because if Jesus Christ isn’t your Lord and Savior, but your property is, then someday, your lord and savior is going to end up on a shelf at Value Village with a price tag attached, and after that, in a landfill. It won’t be able to save you. But Jesus is better. Jesus gives real freedom in that he’s the only one who can give us eternal life – immortality. You’ll never outlive him. You’ll never outlast him.

The Gospel says that Jesus Christ died for sins, and that he didn’t stay dead. In Romans we read that "…if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.” (Rom 8:11 ) Do you realize what Paul is saying? It means that we’re free from the worst thing that can happen - death. That’s amazing. How crazy, and silly, and foolish it must look from God’s perspective when we surround ourselves with these toys, and think that we’re free. I picture Jesus saying: “Yeah – you’re free, eh? Check this out -I can’t die. How do you win against someone who won’t die? How can you intimidate someone who won’t stay dead?! You can’t!” And if you’re in Christ, that’s you. You have nothing to fear. You don’t need to be afraid, because there’s a sovereign, good God running the show, and not you. You don’t need to worry anymore – going without the biggest and best toys isn’t going to kill you. And even if it does, you still win, because if we’re in Christ we will be raised with him. Isn’t that glorious? Now if he can raise you from the dead, do you think he can satisfy your sense of glory? You’ll never face a trial that he hasn’t permitted for whatever reason he’s got. You’ll never face a problem that he can’t help you through. He’s absolutely large and in charge; and he’s given you eternal life. That’s freedom.

V. Conclusion: 

Thanksgiving could be the start of something glorious for you and your family. Do you believe this? How great would it be if you got this sorted out, and your property wasn’t an idol for you? Why not just have this conversation with your family? Ask: “Do we really need all this stuff?” Real thanksgiving comes from the reality that we don’t need this stuff to be satisfied in Christ; it’s all extra. Believe it or not, we can live without it, but God lets us enjoy it anyway.

Illustration: Maggie and I at Toys R Us.

And we need to know that we can say that we love God, and we trust him, and we can preach that Jesus is better than anything else the world has to offer; but there’s a world that needs to see our lives backing it up. Now I get that none of us have this worked out perfectly; we all struggle with materialism. But the reality is that if this is an idol for us, we can say whatever we want, but our possessions will call us liars, and God’s Word will call us fools. And so when Jesus says to us, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mat 5:6 NAS) It’s an amazing offer.

Jesus looks at our culture and says: “I get that in this kingdom, what you own will determine who your friends are; and your toys show how important you are. And they keep you safe. In this kingdom, that’s the blessed life. But I’m here to tell you, there’s a better way. If you would trust me, you’d see that I’m enough. You hunger and thirst for what’s glorious – you’ll only truly be satisfied when you can hunger and thirst for my righteousness. I’m better than anything and everything else the world has to offer.”