The Gods of the Age

From a Moody Bible College website: "I shared Christ with my 11:30 this morning. We can pray for him that he receives the Word.
I have serious doubts that this man would have walked into any Church at all, he told me as much. He said that he felt that he 'knew' about God, but that God knew nothing about him. He left saying that he sees he has been serving money and it has not worked, but is not sure if he can give that up.
Just an encouragement to others who are Serving the Lord 'no matter where'."  -JT

When you speak to the gods of this age, you are providing an opportunity for a person to make a real and a costly choice between what the world makes and what God wants to make in you.  To present hard and divisive truth is a costly decision for your Pastor.  You either will agree with the case that he makes from scripture, or you will disagree.  And having listened to what people say as a Pastor and as Parishioner, I know what those kinds of things sound like.  Somehow, for those who don’t agree with what I say today, it will become about me and not about the issue at hand, or your obedience to God.

There are several gods of this age.  Some of them are easy for us to deny.  Some of them not so easy.  A few provoke rebellion even among the ranks of those who name Jesus as their Lord.  

Let’s think about some of the easy gods to name.  One of them is the tyranny of the self.  This age teaches us that we are all free moral agents, and that none dare deny our own personal sovereignty.  In essence, what we have done is made our own selves as gods.  Paul called it out by saying “Their god is their belly.”  But we say “its just being me.”  “I was born that way” and “how dare you judge me” are also the mantras of the adherents of this god.

The second god is pleasure.  This god’s dominion includes sex and indulgence as its more well known sphere of authority.  You see it everywhere when you talk to people about restraint of self, and of self-denial.  Those who serve this god sexually objectify everything.  Any and every opportunity is fair game for a double-entendre.  Its priests are desperate to promote sexual promiscuity in public schools, and its acolytes write the scripts for nearly every tv show and movie hollywood produces.  But he manifests himself anytime we decide to take it easy rather than do what is right.

The third god of this age is affluence.  The servants of this god are continuously hooking on to the latest trends of fashion or diet, of living room furniture and toys. The servants of this god love to talk about their latest acquisition, or their cleverness at hooking on to the current hottest stocks.  The priests of this faith live on Madison Avenue, and their livelihood absolutely depends on making you dissatisfied with what you have, or to provoke discontentment with what you don’t have.  Many of the priests of this religion have also invaded our government and media, and they love to provoke unrest by telling you that “the rich get rich and the poor get poorer,” and that you’ve been robbed by the rich of what you so much deserve.  Its chief evangelist loves to tell everyone that has worked hard “you didn’t build that.” His servants also love tell people that they fit the standard of poverty if they don’t have an x-box, a cell phone, or a 40 hour a week job that does not pay you more than 11 dollars an hour.

The next god is control.  This one is quite insidious.  In many ways he is the most powerful of this set.  He goes by some other names too.  He has many manifestations.  But he runs his dominion by fear.  His greatest enemy is faith in God.  The others don’t care too much about faith, because they often can catch God’s servants and ensnare them fairly easily if they are not careful.  But faith is an absolute denial and nullification of the god of control.  Control wants you to fear.  He feeds on conspiracy, and raises up many prophets that speak ill and raise doubts concerning your future and your safety.   He is always pointing you to the latest safe investment, or the need for a bunker.  He is more well known as Mammon.

Yes, this is Mammon.  He loves greed because that is the stock and trade of his dominion.  He loves enormous bank accounts, because of the false sense of safety they give you.  Mammon wants you afraid and dependent on anything but the one true God for your future.  If its government or the affordable care act, he wants you afraid so the you will hoard, hoard.  And his voice doesn’t always come from the left.  There are plenty of voices even from the right that feed and serve the god of control.  He is tricky.  He is insidious.

Lets focus on Mammon for a bit.   We used the figure of gods for this.  In a sense they are really more ruling principles which the great god of this age, the devil, along with the principalities and powers have sown into this age.  But lets continue with this image for a bit so we can look at our topic in a slightly different way.  Jesus talked about Mammon a lot.  In fact he even names this ruling principle during one of his talks.  He knows that Mammon works against the kingdom of God in a way that is more diametrically opposed to him than even the other ruling principles do.  This is because Mammon/Control denies the sovereignty of God, denies that He is all good all the time, and denies that God is all powerful.  Control whispers in your ear “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”  It says that you have to horde and horde resources because the end is near.  It says that you can survive the next economic cash if you invest in gold or this other sure fire mutual fund.  And he whispers to you that “you sure need your money more than God does!  After all, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, right?  So if he needs money, let him provide it.  After all, you may break your hip 10 years from now, and you may need to fly to Mexico to get it fixed since the ACA is going to wreck medicine in this country.”

Control wants, more than anything else, to keep you from trusting God with your resources and your future.  So when the Pastor begins to tell you its time to make your choices about how your money is being spent, we here in this wealthy, affluent, power and pleasure loving culture get pretty worked up.  I can stand here and tell you that we need to deny ourselves the pleasures the world offers.  As christians we may shudder over the porn we have to stop seeing, and the tv shows we may have to shut off.  I can tell you that we need to shrug off affluence, and you will learn to mock the commercials that say you deserve a break today, or learn to put a balm on your conscience by dropping some clothes you aren’t using anyway at the Salvation Army.  I must admit that I do these things too. They are easy targets.  

But when I tell you that your money belongs to God, and that a portion of it, 10 percent belongs to him, that’s when the fur begins to fly.  That’s why this is a heart issue.  That’s when the comments start and roast pastor begins to be served.   The amazing thing, tithing is the most easily performed of the actions of defiance against the gods of this age that you can take.  It requires only a little math and writing a check.  Throwing off affluence and pleasure is often times much harder because of the addictive power of the behaviors associated.  But tithing?  Its a few strokes of a pen and simple addition and division.

“That’s the problem with Pastors these days, all they want is my money.”  “What’s he want this money for, doesn’t he make enough?”  “Doesn’t he understand that I have worked hard for my savings, and that I don’t have enough to make ends meet as it is?  How will I pay for my cable if I tithe?” (By the way, yes, seriously I have had conversations about tithing where I was told that these individuals would not tithe because they did not want to give up their cable). “God and greed.  That’s the problem with today’s church. That’s all they talk about.”  “I thought this was the age of grace?  What the Pastor is preaching is legalism!”

It is pretty amazing how often talk like that gets around, even back to the Pastor’s ears.  And if you think about it, all of these retorts come back to the arguments that Mammon likes to make.  When church leadership hears these things, we know its because you’ve been listening to HIM again.

Christianity in America is wealthier than historical Christianity anywhere at anytime.  Yet the churches languish with few resources.  We want a first class production from our churches, but must make do with less than first class resources because leadership doesn’t have money to do more than keep the lights on.  Capitalism and business are supplanting missionaries as powerful evangelists of the false gods because missionaries of the true God don’t have the funding to compete with the big corporations moving into their lands.  People turn in dependence to the government to find food because churches are unable to meet needs in an impactful way.

The result is that we have fewer resources in our land because they are going elsewhere, and there are fewer producers because the government does not encourage people to work and be content with their wages like a church would.  As a result it makes our economy shaky and us more inclined to want to hold onto our money.  Control wins.  And we, because of desire for control reap what we have sown; Stinginess that brings poverty and economic paucity. 

Yes, I know I am kind of speaking to the ages. This is really more of statement about Christianity in generally than about what is going on right here in Bancroft, MI.   While the church at large in America has been giving an average of 2.5 percent, I do believe that we are doing much better.  But is EVERYONE tithing?

A few people who maintain an awareness of the giving in our church tracked the giving of our church for a period of time.  Knowing how much they themselves give, and making a guess at the giving of one or two others who were at least claiming to tithe, they discerned that only a few people at our church, again this was several years ago, were actually tithing.  That means, giving 10 percent.  I would like to think that this has improved substantially.  But I am also guessing that it by no means includes all. 

Jesus affirmed the Tithe when speaking to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:23).  He spoke often on Mammon, and was mocked for it (Luke 16:14).  When Pastors and leaders call out people for not tithing, and we are scoffed at, we are in good company with Jesus.  We realize the problem that people have is not really us.  Its the fact that they are still struggling with sin and the issues of the Lordship of Christ.  

That’s what it comes down to: Lordship.  Who is your Lord?  Is it the elementary principles/gods of this world?  Or is it Christ?  Do you trust in His kingdom?  Or in yours?  Who is more responsible with money, Jesus or your investment firm that you picked?  This IS the dividing point!  The tithe!  Which way will you go?  It really is an obedience issue.  Argue all you want, Jesus still expects that you will tithe. What will you do?  Which principle will you obey? Will you give up control of your finances and future to Jesus, or keep it for Mammon’s sake.  Its the Lordship of Christ or that of Mammon. 

Teaser!

If you get the church newsletter, here is a teaser for what you'll be reading in this month's installment!

Spring is coming!  Can’t come soon enough for me.  Green grass, lovely flowers, walks in the garden and GARDENING!!!  I am going to try snow peas this year.  Birds in the trees and cherry blossoms in my back yard.  Open water and rainstorms.  I really cannot wait for warmer weather to come at last.   I have to admit, I don’t care much for winter.  Well...I think all of you know that by now.  It’s not a new admission.  But I am not going to complain about it.  If I do you’ll all remind me that I was going to be working on being thankful for ALL things...including winter!

Its been a tough winter this year...unusually so it seems.  But the challenges have certainly had their benefits.  I have noticed that some of the old hardiness I had with cold temperatures (though by no means all of it!) has come back.  I actually found that I was walking around, in 32 degree weather a week or so ago, without a hat or gloves, and my coat unzipped.  It almost felt “balmy” out!  16 degrees, as it is today, does not feel quite as bone shattering as it did at first.  Even my tolerance for low temperatures inside my house has increased.  So yes, there have been some real benefits.

But now, you are going to be really surprised…

Find out why by reading this month's newsletter.  And for those of you who read this blog but don't get it, ask for a free subscription on BCC's Facebook page. Or, I will also print the rest of this blog next week.

From Goal to Depression: A Possible Help for the Blues

A wise person once noted that I was a person who tended to get the blues a lot.  I can get down emotionally.  I can get angry and frustrated with life and how it works.  He pointed out to me that these things go together.  He said that Depression/the Blues is really just anger turned inward.  Anger often times (though not always) comes from being frustrated.  Frustration is the result from blocked goals and assumptions.

This was a major revelation to me.  

Frustration becomes anger which then is internalized resulting in depression.  

Now please don’t misunderstand a very important point here.  Sometimes there are chemical issues that result in depression.  But when we are depressed or feeling blue, this little principle should force us to think through what our goals and assumptions of life really are.  Do they match reality?  Do they match God’s plan?  When they don’t and we feel frustrated, then that can result in depression.

Therefore, if one is feeling blue or depressed, one must question what they are frustrated with.  And if they are frustrated, what are the goals that are being blocked?Sometimes those goals might not be readily apparent to ourselves.  They may be unstated. They may be founded on ideas that are not grounded in reality.  Or they may run contrary to God’s goals for us.  Want to be frustrated?  Try to work against God!  That WILL result in frustration!

We may need to rework our assumptions of how life is supposed to work.  For example: If you believe that everyone who prays should be healthy, then if you are not healthy, won't you be frustrated and depressed about prayer?  This person needs to revisit their assumptions about the connection between health and prayer.

If you believe that every tither should become rich, and you don’t think you are rich, you may get frustrated with God, and depressed about tithing.  You may need to revisit your beliefs about the connection between obedience and blessing, or your assumptions about the nature of what God means about being rich!

If you have as a goal in life to have a nice house on a hill, far away from any  nosy neighbors, but your job is not providing the income required, or the dream promotion remains a dream, or your degree program is proving too difficult, you may need to revisit your long term goal and your short term goals you require to get that house!

One must discover ones goals for life, and assumptions about how it works to understand why they feel blue.  Best cures: talk about life and frustration with someone who can help you dig out false assumptions or unreasonable goals;  read scripture and live the principles there revealed, especially that of Loving God and Loving your neighbor in a sacrificial way.

Washed up for ministry?

God’s call came late in life for Abraham.  But it came nonetheless.  Another person it came “late” for was Moses.  In a sense…  You see, he knew from fairly early on that he was something special.  He grew up a superstar in the house of Pharoah.  He was a superstar to the Hebrews who knew that he would be a deliverer.  He knew he was a superstar.  So much so, that when he was 40, he decided that he would take matters into his own hands, and bust up a fight between a fellow Hebrew and an Egyptian.  He took the side of the Hebrew, and killed the Egyptian!  

Hey, I am the chosen deliverer!  Let the revolt begin!

Still, he was ashamed enough of his actions that he tried to cover it up.  He buried the Egyptian.  

The next day, our superstar goes out, and decides to step into a dispute between Hebrews.  Now in that culture, that meant he was exercising the role of a judge...just what the deliverer is supposed to do.  But he is summarily rejected… by his own people.  And pharaoh decides that Moses must go too!  Where is the revolt?  What have I done?  Why didn’t the people follow me?  I thought this was my role!

So, at age 40, he’s already washed up.  He goes to live in the wilderness as a has been, could-a -been nobody.  He’s in exile watching a bunch of dirty smelly sheep, the son in law of a wilderness priest.

Then came the burning bush.

Moses was the chosen one...chosen from eternity past.  He did jump the gun.  The time was not ready, and neither was he.  But the call came.  It came when he was 80 years old!

He thought he was so disqualified that even when God confronted him he did everything he could to get out of it.  "In whose name do I go?"  "I am not gifted for this…look at how I talk!"  "Send someone else!"  God would have none of it.  His calling IS his enablement.

You might think you're hot stuff.  That does not mean your ready.  You might think that you  are washed up… But that might not be God’s view.  You might think you’ve been shelved, or that you have done too much wrong to be used of God.  Wrong.  

Your calling may not be to be a preacher or leading a large group of wandering Israelites.  Your call may come in an entirely different way. Whatever it is, if you are a Christian, you ARE called to ministry.  Your history is irrelevant.  Your history does not disqualify you.  Your timetable is not God’s.  Your age and training, or lack of it is no barrier. Embrace the fact you ARE called to ministry, and get serving!

Who is the Minister at This Church?

I hear this question from the title occasionally.  I also am introduced to others at times with this statement: "This is my minister."  

Lots of people are confused about the nature of “being called” and about ministry.  There are lots of reasons for this.  One reason is because they have not been informed either by their Pastor, or because they simply are not familiar with what God has to say about ministry.  Maybe they are new to the faith.  Maybe they have only recently been converted, and there simply has not been opportunity to be fully informed.  But those who have been Christians for more than a few months ought to be taught about or have read about ministry in the scriptures.  

Another reason is not as excusable.  It has to do with power and control.  In all honesty, I have to admit as a “Ministry Professional” that we who are in full time paid ministry might have a self-serving interest in not letting people know the real truth about ministry.  It might be because its easier to have our flock think of themselves as passive receivers of ministry.  It gets the “untrained, unwashed” sheep out of our way so that we can be the ones who do the work.  And we get all the glory for ourselves as a result. Nice, eh?

This is not the true nature of ministry.  The truth is, we are all, as Christians, called to be ministers.  We are all called to enter into the work, the joys and the sorrows, to reap the reward for faithfulness and the blessings of service.  As a Pastor, my calling might look different than yours does.  But we are all called.  Ephesians 4 makes it clear that my job is to prepare YOU for works of service; or as it could well be translated: works of ministry.

Some people are confused about how and when the call comes.  Some people think that if you are called to ministry (and again we all are) that the calling should come when you are young.  We we should always be busy about serving God.  But sometimes a clearly defined call may not come from God until rather late in life. 

Consider Abraham.  He was not, as far as we know, a believer in God until relatively late in life.  In fact, Jewish tradition holds that his father was a priest of the Moon god, and that Abraham was devoted to him as well.  Late in life, in his 70’s in fact, Abraham was called of God to leave his home, family, friends, business contacts and birth place to go to a land hundreds of miles away.  His job: to go and represent God by living a God centered life, doing business, making friends, buying and selling, in front of a new set of people that had abandoned the one true God.  

That was not the only call he received. He was called to be a father.  Again, late in life.  In fact, he was 99 years old!  

God may not call you to go to Africa.  God may not set you aside to do something unusual or unique right away.  But he does have a plan for you.  He has a ministry for you that he wants you participate in, and its there for you to discover.  Until that calling comes, here are a few steps to take to be ready.

Pray

   Ask God for what he wants you to do, and take time to listen. Seek out from him what your spiritual giftedness is.  And that listening thing IS IMPORTANT.  God may be telling you already.  Are your ears open?  Or are you to busy to pray and listen to God?

Read Scripture

   Look for examples that appeal to you. Be informed about ministry, and what God wants from his ministers.  Understand what spiritual giftedness is and God’s goals for it right from the Bible.

Get serving

   The best way to get your calling is to faithfully be serving. When God visits you, you should be about his business already.  You may find that as you are serving, God affirms through his church what you are doing as being your ministry.  You may discover a need through serving that you have a passion to fill.  The church will see you at work, and often affirm your call through encouragement and praise of what God is doing through you.

The Low Road to Pride: The subtle whisper

We don’t think of Pride as being a subtle sin.  We don’t think of sin as suddenly sneaking up on someone then overwhelming them like other sins.  In our thinking, sinful pride comes with neon signs and loud horns!  Pride comes with proclamations and boasts, big cars and bright jewelry.  But pride can be an amazingly subtle sin, especially if we don’t have many of the aforementioned outward trappings!

There is an old saying: “No one becomes suddenly base.”  The same can be true for pride as well.  Pride doesn’t just begin with a blossoming ego or a great accomplishment.  It can begin with a subtle whisper.  It can begin with a gaze at an award, or a look in a mirror.

For Satan it began with a comparison.  He thought “I can be just as strong/powerful/solid/amazing as God.”  

Is. 14:13  “But you said in your heart,  ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.  14  ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 

He whispered it to himself!  And he has laid many low since then with similar whisperings:

 “You are just as smart as he is!” 

 “You are just as beautiful as she is!”  

“Why aren’t they paying attention to you?  Aren’t you just as important and valuable?”

“How dare he question your knowledge of this? After all, didn’t you watch that info-mercial on this subject?”

“He only picked her because they are friends.  You’re just as good as she is!”

And with our culture’s current emphasis on self-esteem as a primary value, it makes us all the more susceptible to falling into sinful pride.

Its been well said that sinful pride is the sin that we are most of aware of in others, but we are most unaware of it in ourselves.    And the problem is, we are often unaware of its presence in us as it begins to burn within us. Anything can be an opportunity for pride, even Christian things!

The story is told of a well advanced Tempter who was crossing the desert one day, and he came across a monk, surrounded by a group of minor imps.  They were attempting to tempt the venerable old man toward compromising his integrity.  They came at him with enticements to lust or toward avarice, and the ascetic easily disregarded them all.  The senior tempter watched the activity of the imps with a well practiced eye, and then bade them all to step aside.  “You are going about this all wrong.  Watch and learn,” he hissed, as he crept up to the old man’s side.  Then, he whispered into his ear, “Your brother has just been named the Bishop of Alexandria.”  He stepped back as suddenly a bright flame of burning pride erupted in the man’s soul. 

“The very idea,” said the old man, as his serene appearance melted away to be replaced with a expression of scorn and wounded pride, while the imps walked away acknowledging the greatness of the master tempter.

And we are no less susceptible.  Have you ever heard these kinds of things whispered into your soul?  I know that I have!

“You can sing/preach/teach as well as he can!”

“Why didn’t you get a visit on the visitation program?”

“You can lead a study as well as anyone else? Why don’t you get asked?”

“He took away your job! Who does he think he is?”
"That's not the right way to do that! Show him how its done!"

“You know as much about theology as her! You watch Christian TV all the time!”

“He didn’t ask you to lead that ministry the RIGHT way. Wait till he gets it right!”
"Where is YOUR public acknowledgement?"

“How dare she cut down your vision for this project?”

 Yes, the same opportunities for tempting us to pride exist in church as in anywhere else in this world. 

A whisper in your ear, or a rumor passed about.  A slight comparison made and remembering old bitterness.  However it happens, suddenly we are carried away by sinful pride.  Be careful of pride and the enticements to be prideful that our world, the flesh and the devil will throw your way.

Metamorphosis: A beautiful word

Metamorphosis. I love that word.  It just sounds impressive, doesn’t it?  It even looks great!  It drips with an air of mystery.   Its a word we associate with ancient tales of wizards changing themselves into dragons, princes into frogs, and children into mythical creatures.  

If you love science too! Metamorphosis is the word that is used to describe the change that takes place in caterpillars in order to become butterflies.  From a creeping, almost worm like creature will come a more typically insect sort of creature, with fewer legs, featuring a set of wings that can often dazzle in their appearance.

The word in the greek carries the idea of change.  But not just any change.  A change for the better.  A metamorphosis means that there is going to be something newer, but also more wondrous, more amazing, than what it replaces.  

Today we talked in church about the metamorphosis that God calls us to when we submit our minds to Him.  When we trust Him for salvation, we have a new nature.  We are regenerated, and His Spirit comes to live within us.  But the change is not complete there.  In fact, it has only begun. 

When we trust Jesus to save us, we are His, and we become His Saints.  But we still think like sinners.  Our starting assumptions and prejudices, our fundamental view of reality really is still the same.  The change has started.  One starting point we had that changed from before we got saved is that now we believe there is a God!  Maybe that was a starting assumption we had before we heard about Christ.  Or maybe we believed that we had to earn our own salvation.  That changed when you realized you needed Jesus and His payment on the cross to buy your way into heaven.

But other assumptions remain the same.  There are lots of things that this world teaches you that really, you still probably believe just as you did before.  And until you are challenged in those ideas, you will continue to hold them and base your life on them.  

The world has you for a lot of time each day.  There is no way a one hour worship service can fully combat the 168 hours of input that your world has upon you.  You might object at this point.  “Hey, Pastor! I sleep for a lot of that time!”   This is true.  But remember, even while you sleep, your mind is not silent.  Through dreams it actually continues to reinforce the messages that your world gives you through out the day.  We need to increase the amount of time we give to God so that His word and His truth can work its way into our minds and saturate us so that we can have our minds “metamorphosed” into something new and better.

I confess that I still struggle with ideas and thoughts which may surprise you.  No less a personage than Charles Spurgeon confessed to struggling with the same things when he preached this to his church one Sunday:

"I hope that my will is managed by divine grace.  But I am afraid my imagination is not at times.  Those who have a fair share of imagination know what a difficult thing it is to control.  You cannot restrain it.  My imagination has taken me down to the vilest kennels and sewers of earth.  It has given me thoughts so dreadful that, while I could not avoid them, yet I was thoroughly horrified by them.  These thoughts will come; and when I feel in the holiest frame, the most devoted to God, and the most earnest in prayer, it often happens that that is the very time when the plague breaks out the worst."

If Charles Spurgeon can struggle with this stuff, then we ought not to be surprised that, in a day when we are bombarded with messages contrary to the gospel, that we should also struggle with keeping bad ideas and thoughts from finding safe harbor in our minds.

Praise God at this point for Hebrews 4:16.  Even as we make war against evil thoughts and mental habits of the mind God gives us grace and mercy.  He knows we are but dust.  Draw near to God daily when you are finding your thoughts going to places they ought not, and you will do well.