What Fans Your Flame?

Within every Christian there is a battle.

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." Galatians 5:16-18

Within every Christian there is a conflict being waged between our sinful nature and the Spirit.  If we are going to have a say in who wins this fight we must begin by examining the combatants.

The sinful nature, also translated the flesh, is what our fallen humanity is by default before our conversion.  This nature has no interest in glorifying God or obeying Him.  This nature rejects Jesus as Lord and/or Savior.  It will reject Jesus as Lord be disobeying His commands and it will reject Christ through trying to be its own Savior by being, as Paul calls it, under the law.

The Spirit is not the Holy Spirit.  At least not exactly.  The Spirit is the new heart in a Christian as it has been renewed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  I say this because if the sinful nature were waging a war against the Holy Spirit Himself the sinful nature would lose each and every battle decisively, but since we all experience wins and loses by both parties we know that the Spirit refers to something else.  So, the Spirit is the new nature given to us by God that is moving toward its promised completition (Philippians 1:6).

The war between my sinful nature and the Spirit is fought on the battleground of desire.

In verse 16 we see the word "desires" associated with the sinful nature.  This word in Greek is "epithumia" which Pastor Tim Keller in his study on Galatians says is best translated "over-desires" or "inordinate desires".  See, St. Augustine defined sin as disordered desires.  Our sinful nature often desires things that are flat out wrong, but it also overly desires good things and turns them into idols.  It desires things inordinately.  We see this with the good gifts of sex, wine, family, sleep, etc. 

The Spirit has desires, too.  Our new nature has strong desires.  Above all, our new nature desires to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  The Spirit unhindered will stop at nothing in its pursuit of enjoying God.  As Pastor John Piper's cornerstone doctrinal statement says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."  The Spirit longs to be satisfied by the pleasures that are at His right hand forevermore.

"You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11

We have these two natures at war: the sinful nature and the Spirit a.k.a. the new nature.  Who wins in your life?  Now, as a Christian who is not yet glorified there will be wins and loses on both sides, but as we are being sanctified the Spirit grows and the sinful nature shrinks.

There are several ways to join in this fight and I've written about this topic in the past from the book of Colossians, but today I want to focus on perhaps the most important way to fight this battle.

What fuels your joy?

I've described the battle between these two forces with the old proverb about the two dogs that fight and the one that wins is the one you feed.  That's a good analogy, but I now think there is a better one:

Which fire do you fan?

Our lives are controlled by our passions.  What we have a deep love for, we will sacrifice for.  What we desire most deeply, we will chase most swiftly.  What we are most passionate about, we will risk the most to get. 

What most spurs you on to love the ways of God?  What disciplines or activities fan the flame of your passion for Christ?  Identify those things and then use them as the billows of your new heart.  Pour them like gasoline on the fire of your joy in Christ.

Let's help each other.  Comment with the things that fan the flame of your love for Jesus today.

Monkey Selfies and Foolish Thinking

The biggest monkey trial since Scopes recently had a decision reached in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The monkey lost.

In a bizarre case that has been going on for nearly three years, a photographer who was in Indonesia had his camera swiped by a monkey and the monkey took a few photos.  One of those photos became extremely popular.  The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued the photographer claiming that the copyright on the monkey selfie belonged to the monkey and not the human who owned the camera.  This silly case has reached pretty high in our court system... embarrassingly and humorously high.  But the court once again unanimously ruled that non-humans cannot own copyrights.

PETA took up this case to "expand legal rights for non-humans."  In the original settlement of this non-sequitur case the photographer named David John Slater donated a fourth of the revenue from the photo to a monkey charity.  I'm not making this up.  You can read about it here and elsewhere.


This whole story is funny at best and annoying at worst, right?  We all know that monkeys and other animals don't have the same rights as humans.  But why do we know this?  By what standard do we make this statement? 

Evolutionarily we are simply further developed or differently developed animals so what gives us the right to have rights other animals don't have?  Does might make right?  Just because I'm evolutionarily more advanced do I have power and prestige that a monkey doesn't?

Outside of the statements made by most religions including statements made in the Bible I see no objective reason that I can claim copyright privilege over a monkey.  Speciesism anyone? (Speciesism is a very real claim made by some extreme animal rights activist)

The Bible is very clear that humans are different from animals. 

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'

So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.

God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:26-28

God tells us objectively that there is a different majesty and authority given to humans that is not present in animals.  Animals are amazing and diverse and at times very intelligent but they are not humans.  Only humans were created in His likeness.  Men and women, boys and girls of all shapes, sizes, colors and personalities were created in God's image.  Every person on earth has the imago dei, the image of God, printed on them.

The Bible also speaks of treating animals well.

"The righteous man cares for the needs of his animal,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Proverbs 12:10

The Bible says the way we treat animals has a lot to say about our character, so we must treat them well.  But treating animals well and caring for them does not include equating them with humans.

What's the problem with equating animals with humans?  Won't animals be helped by this?

Animal rights may be elevated but human rights will be threatened.  Reasoning that goes outside of God's thinking in regards to humans and animals will nearly always tend toward blatant sin.  Equating people with animals hardly is about speciesism but rather racism that results in Japanese-Americans on trains to internment camps, Jews herded to concentration camps, Native Americans moved on trails of tears and Africans chained in sugar plantations.  If we don't recognize the imago dei that exists only in human beings and in all human beings we will error on counting certain colors of people as 3/5 of a person or judging what ability levels we want to treat as superior.

The monkey selfie trial is silly, but let's check our thinking with it.  If there is no objective truth that we use for our reasoning in this silly test we set our selves up for failure.  We must be able to answer the question, "why is it this way?" with an objective answer.  For the Christian the objective answer is, "because the Bible tells me so." 

All people are a unique and treasured creation.  Look for the imago dei in every human being you encounter today.

Not Cut Out to be Alone

I hope you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I hope you have time in your week to spend time alone with Jesus.  I pray that you do know that Jesus died for you personally.

However, too often in our individualistic culture forget that while Jesus died for us individually and personally He did so to bring us together as His Church.

"As you come to Him, the living Stone... rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him... you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5

Peter calls Christians living stones that are being built into a spiritual house.  Stones are cut out from rocks and shaped into blocks for the express purpose of being used for building.  A stone, like you and I, must be molded and chiseled and smoothed out by the craftsman before it is of any good.  There is some truth to be gleaned from this imagery.  God will make us into what He needs us to be for His building project.

There is a lot in the metaphor Peter uses but what I want to focus on today is this:

We weren't cut out to be alone.

While we have a personal relationship with Jesus.  While Jesus is my Lord, He is not mine alone.  God sent Jesus to redeem His Church.  God the Father crushed His Son to purchase individuals that come together to collectively be this spiritual house, this body, this bride.  We are not meant to do this alone.  In fact, doing it alone is against the purposes of the Gospel.

So, how do we do this in the age of Youtube sermons from our favorite pastors in our living rooms, radio stations playing the top worship songs in our cars and podcasts of our most favorite teachers on our phones alone in our easy chairs?  In an age of individualism and isolation, an age of über-connection yet physical solitude, how do we live as living stones being built into a spiritual house?

I believe we do this best in the local church.  Until the Church universal can be in one place at one time (and I look forward to that day) we best follow the Bible's design for us in the local church.  Yes, we could kind of do this in informal gatherings with other believers, but we do it best in an organized local church.

I say organized local church because stones are meant to be assembled in an organized fashion.  Anyone constructing a building will have plans for how that building will be assembled.  Jesus is no different.  We were left with all sorts of plans for how we living stones are to assemble.  We are given a good hierarchy in the Scriptures that has plenty of wiggle room for various style preferences and cultures.  We are given the offices of elder and deacon.  We are given different giftings of people that will be present in the local church.

See, the organization of the local church: the deacons, elders, pastors, teachers, etc is a good thing.  Men and women assembled together in an organized fashion (i.e. church constitutions and mission statements) better reflect the glory of our God of Order (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Christians, we were not cut out to be alone.  We are chosen by God to be together rubbing shoulders as stones in a spiritual house.  So, join a local church.  Get involved in being part of something larger than yourself.  Live as a living stone being built into a spiritual house by the Master Craftsman today.

God Overpaid

This past Sunday I got to listen to one of my favorite preachers, my dad.  He preached on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 which is about sexual immorality.  There was much from the sermon that I took home with me but one line from the passage struck me in the gut.

"You are not your own, you were bought at a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a

What landed on me when that passage was read was that God overpaid for me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling God foolish, because He is the very definition of wisdom.  Many love the song "Reckless Love" and I guess I'm tapping into that sort of hyperbolic idea (though I hadn't ever heard the song until after this Sunday).  From my perspective and from what most of the Bible says it seems that God overpaid for me.

Sin is a serious offense and the wages of sin is death.  Someone had to die to fix the problem of sin.  God had to be just and therefore blood had to be shed to provide forgiveness for my sin.  When I say that God overpaid I'm not saying that remedying the mess of sin didn't require a perfect sacrifice.

God overpaid because there is no way that I'm worth that much.  There is no way on the trading block I'm worth being swapped with Jesus in a trade.  Even if you pair me and all of humanity there is no way all of us in exchange for the Son of God is a fair trade.

God overpaid for me.  I was bought at a price and if I were God I would not pay that price for me and I wouldn't pay it for you.

But God in His infinite love did pay that price!

In 2011 Mikeschair released a song called "Someone Worth Dying For".  I really, really appreciate what the song was trying to accomplish.  It was trying to give people who felt worthless and hopeless a message that said that Jesus loves them and that they have a reason to live.  However, I must disagree with the lyrics' theology.  I must disagree with the title and chorus.

God did not send Jesus to die for us because we were WORTH it.  No, His love for us is so much better than that.  He loves us so much that He overpaid.  He paid the highest price possible for us when we our market value wasn't near that price.  He paid a price that we simply weren't worth.

But don't sell your self short.  You are worth a lot in God's eyes.

Have you ever watched Antiques Roadshow or something like that?  Have you ever wondered why some of those items are worth so much?  Have you ever thought that the price estimated on those items was a joke?  Well, those items are only worth the estimated price because someone is willing to pay that price.  Someone really loves Victorian era tea cups and will pay a handsome price for one.  The worth of those items doesn't come from their usefulness but from the price someone is willing to pay for it.

You are worth a lot.  Your life is worth so much because you were bought at a price.  You were bought at an insanely high price.  Now live your life, in all areas, with the knowledge that you were bought at a high price.  You were bought at an extremely high price therefore honor God with your life today.

Resurrection Sunday- Victory in Jesus!

This is the culmination of Holy Week.  This is Resurrection Sunday!  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

The actual, physical, historical resurrection of the man Jesus is a beyond crucial piece of the Good News we share.

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, the He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then the Twelve.  After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time..." 1 Corinthians 15:3-6a

On this Resurrection Sunday we proclaim the essential truth that Jesus is risen.  That Jesus died and was buried and rose from the grave.  And now we die to sin because He died, and we will rise from the dead because He rose from the dead.

"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead.  But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." 1 corinthians 15:12-22

Resurrection Sunday is us proclaiming that Christ has indeed been raised and with Him we win!

"'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
     
      'Where, O death, is your victory?
       Where, O death, is your sting?'

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57

We who are in Christ celebrate victory today.