St. John Studies

John Bevere has written thirteen chapters in his book Good or God? trying to explain how Christians should turn to God’s Word and not society for our idea of right or wrong.

Now in Chapter 14 he discusses “Our Parameters.” His whole book is structured around the image of building a home: lordship is the foundation, the framework or structure is our sanctified lifestyle and as it is with homebuilding, the last phase is all about our dreams, plans, strategies and life decisions, the installation of cabinets, carpeting, tile, marble countertops, paint and eventually the lighting.

To extend his image, depending on the foundation and the framework of our “home”, we may be faced with choices that can be very limited.

Here is where we realize that maybe we have made some errors with our foundation and framework; maybe we realize [too late] that we have failed to dream big enough.

One can easily think about the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14. You know the story, the man going on a journey who entrusted his servants with his property. He gave one servant five talents, another two talents and a third, one talent. The servant with five talents “put his money to work” and gained five more talents. The servant with two talents “put his money to work” and gained two more. The one who was given one buried his talent in a hole and hid his money.

When the master returned he was very happy with the man who doubled his five talents and was very happy with the man who doubled his two talents. To both he said “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”

Then we get to the man who buried his talent. This man had not planned big at all; in fact, he said that his fear of his master had caused him to bury his talent for safe-keeping.

What did the master say?

“You wicked lazy servant!…You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest….And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

As Christians, we are confronted with many choices in life and what Bevere is saying is that maybe we opt for limited dreaming from time to time. We think we have to choose less when God would prefer that we choose more.

Do some Christians get too caught up in the quest for abundance? Of course they do. In recent years, we have heard from several televangelists who preach what is called “the prosperity gospel”. The temptation of this type of preaching is that it can center too much on possessions, finances and power. Greed can take over as our quest for abundance can possess us. But as we reflect on the parable of the talents, what could the master do with ten talents as opposed to five? If he was so inclined, could he do more work for God with that extra money?

Yes he could.

Having a right relationship with prosperity can be a very good thing if we put prosperity in its proper place. Without prosperity, we are limited in what we can do. Third John verse two states “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth.”

Matthew 25:29 states “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.”

God does not intend for all Christians to be poor. God does not intend for all Christians to make limited choices all the time. He wants us to dream big, especially if we can keep tight reigns on our penchant to be greedy, the temptation to let our quest for abundance control us.

In the last phase of building our home, He is not opposed to us installing high quality cabinets, carpeting, tile, countertop, painting and lighting.

Just as long as we remember where our abundance has come from and as long as we are willing to dedicate our dreams to building His Kingdom here on earth.

Then maybe we will hear those joyful words: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Despair…

This year has caused a little anxiety at times, maybe even despair. When the Las Vegas shooter killed fifty-eight, the son-in-law of my best friend was right behind the stage helping Jason Aldean with his guitars. I was with this best friend and needless to say, he was very concerned about his son-in-law’s well-being. When any Christian church is attacked, it always hurts and in Sutherland Springs Texas, we lost twenty-six worshippers. Just yesterday, a world away, a mosque was attacked by twenty-five armed men killing three-hundred and five and wounding one-hundred twenty eight. These people were worshipping.

This post is not about gun violence or terrorism; it is about what individuals can do in the face of circumstances that too often seem overwhelming.

John Bevere’s book Good or God? does not specifically deal with incidents like these but when he wrote his book, he cited a trend of “lawlessness” that is increasing in our country. Call it what you want, but negative behavior certainly gets a lot of play in the media today. Psychologist Ray Williams in a Psychology Today article states that the rate of good news to bad news in the media is one good news story to seventeen bad news stories.* It seems like bad news leads people to turn on the television; bad news leads us to google the event. At times it feels like we are constantly being bombarded by tales of negative human behavior.

Bevere feels like the problem is that some lawless behavior is labeled as acceptable by society and too many of us feel that society is calling the shots.

But let’s say society has lost its way. What can we do? Who can we call? Some high ranking government official? Is there somewhere we can send a letter of concern? Give me that email address so I can fire off an email that will express my anxieties.

To my knowledge there is no place to contact anyone about the direction the world is going but there is something that all Christians can do and Bevere has been leading us to this conclusion in Chapter 13 of his book.

First of all, Christians need to grapple with the idea that society does not set the boundaries for our lives. What society allows is most often not in line with God’s Word. God should set the Christian’s boundaries and often this pits us against societal behaviors. Make no mistake; society does not rule.

Secondly, we have the responsibility for cleaning ourselves up when we sin. Too many Christians have this attitude that Jesus provides an endless number of “get out of jail free cards.” The attitude is “The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin past, present and future, so don’t worry about the habitual sin you live in because you’re covered” [Bevere, 200].

Instead of being “covered”, we should actively try to cleanse ourselves from sin so we can be of use to God.

This cleansing process is a transformation that can occur throughout our lives as we accept the sacrifice of Jesus. Bevere refers to the process as a pouring of God into the hearts of men and women: “God didn’t move out of the temple into a sunset, tree, beautiful landscape, song, video or any other medium. He moved into vessels of flesh and blood. However, if the vessels are dirty, the presence of God in society diminishes and consequently, lawlessness is less restrained.”

Let’s admit that the only way we can battle lawlessness at all is to take stock of how clean our “vessel” is and if it is not clean, then we must make a serious effort to “clean it up.” God gives us the power to do this and it is through the empowerment of His grace.
Many will say, what good is this?

It is the only good we are really in charge of, our good. Maybe you are not a pastor or a leader in a big organization but you can be one Christian standing with other Christians who are “proclaiming the whole counsel of God from Scripture.” We all influence others even though we may not see it. Some of the greatest influence is how we live our lives. Too often the focus is on our words and they are important but actions speak louder than words. When the world seems to be crashing all around us, how does the Christian act?

Christians, let’s not opt for despair.

With God’s grace, I think we can all do better…

God intends us all to do better…

*Psychology Today “Why We Love Bad News”

You know how it is…

As you go through life, you encounter things. Much of what you encounter never gets your attention. Once in a while, something does.

Years ago, I was in a fast food restaurant and I had some time to kill so I picked up one of those little local magazines that are ninety percent advertisement and ten percent content. I don’t know who publishes these things, but you see them in many public places. They are usually free. Having nothing to do for a few minutes, I picked up the latest copy of one of these magazines and started thumbing through it. I found a little story called “A Holy Bucket.” It was about reading the Bible so I clipped it out and put it inside my Bible.

The little story was about Bible reading but it could be about other things too. In the context of John Bevere’s book Good or God?, it could easily refer to Christian growth. It could refer to holy containers [more on that later].

The story goes like this: A young man approached a Christian friend and said “I’m finished with reading the Bible. I’m tired of trying to understand it. His friend picked up a very dirty bucket with a small hole in the bottom and asked the young man to go to the creek and bring back some water. The young man did so, but of course the water had leaked out by the time he returned. The friend asked him to return to the creek and try again. The young man repeated this several times and each time the bucket was empty on his return. Frustrated, the young man said, “I’m quitting. What’s the point? The water leaks out.” His friend replied, “Look at the bucket. It’s clean from the repeated fillings of water. Sure you lose the water, but each time the bucket is filled it becomes a little cleaner.” It works the same way with reading the Bible. You may not understand everything you read, plus some of what you learn always leaks out. But each time you’re exposed to God’s word, you become a little cleaner, wiser and stronger. So, if you’re reading, continue to do so. If you’re not, get started. If you need help, find it. It’s that important.

The imagery of this little story has always appealed to me but let’s make a little alteration and see if it works for Bevere’s book. Bevere encourages his readers to grow; go to church, read the Bible, pray, do service for others, attend Bible studies, be an active participant in church etc. etc.

In Chapter 13 of his book, he also encourages us to be clean containers, maybe like the bucket is a clean container after repeated trips to the creek. Why does he focus on the idea of clean containers? Because God wants to pour His Holy Spirit into clean containers, not dirty containers. Sounds like a strange idea doesn’t it…

Until you see the Scripture that he is working off of [Second Timothy 2:20-21]: “In a large house some dishes are made of gold or silver, while others are made of wood or clay. Some of these are special, and others are not. That’s how it is with people. The ones who stop doing evil and make themselves pure will become special. Their lives will be holy and pleasing to their Master, and they will be able to do all kinds of good deeds.”
He says the Greek word for dishes means simply vessels or containers. Further he states “If we as the container are clean, then we are fit for the Master’s work. We are fit to be filled with his powerful presence.”

As I comment on Chapter 13 of Bevere’s book, the idea of clean container is central. We are getting closer to the end of the book, the climax if you will, and he wants to communicate his most important messages. In the previous two posts, we found that passionate love and fear will motivate us to be better Christians.

We know we should want to be better Christians. The Bible says “The Lord knows those who are His” and “Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing” [from Second Timothy 2:19].

Maybe we need to grab that holy bucket; in upcoming posts Bevere will tell us what we need to do to become a “clean container”.

I was old enough to know better but I still got in trouble. I was the oldest of three boys and from time to time I just could not control myself. I did evil on my little brothers.
At times the offense was so bad that I had to be punished. I deserved it. I knew it was coming. Dad warned me that it was.

One day he told me to go to the tree in the front yard and get a switch. I know as I tell this story in 2017, the idea of switching the legs of a child sounds like child abuse but let me tell you, it wasn’t. I deserved it. When Dad administered the punishment he did it in a restrained manner, taking no pleasure in the process. However the switch still stung; it stung so much that I never wanted it to happen again.

I developed a fear of my father and his ability to switch my legs.

In the previous post I wrote about passionate love as a motivating force to help us grow in our Christian lives but today I write about another force: fear—holy fear.

Fear has fallen “out of fashion” in the church. The Christian today is told that God is a loving God, accepting what we do with a very understanding and forgiving attitude. John Bevere says when Christians hear that they should fear God the ordinary responses are “We don’t have to fear God because He’s not given us a spirit of fear but of love.” “That’s an Old Testament teaching.” “Isn’t fear what we were set free from?” “What place does this word have in our vocabulary now?” [Good or God?, 192-93].

But then we turn to 2nd Corinthians 7:1 and read “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Turning to Philippians 2:12 “Work out your own salvations with fear and trembling.” And then in 1st Peter we see “So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as ‘foreigners in the land.’” In Hebrews 12:28 it says “Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

How could all this fear talk be in the New Testament? God is our “daddy”; yet these statements say that we should feel fear.

Bevere states that the notion of fear needs to be developed so we can understand what it means. In my life, I have sinned so badly that I wondered if God was going to send me to hell. The problem with that is I would repent and ask forgiveness and then I would sin again. Over and over the cycle would repeat. I will be honest; I wondered if God would ever get tired of my poor efforts to get myself under control and just let me go. The sad part of living like this is I was truly a person who was scared of God because I had something to hide. It reminds me of the sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve did not want to see God because they had eaten of the forbidden tree and they did not want God to know…but God does know. God knows everything we do.
Another way of looking at fear is respect. Moses encountered the burning bush and he was afraid to look directly at it because he knew it was God. He knew that he should show respect by not looking and removing his sandals because he was told by God he was on holy ground. He had a healthy respect for God.

Finally, there is fear that we will live our lives away from God. This idea means that the more we love God, the less we want to sin and if we do sin, we are moving away from God. Proverbs 8:13 states “All who fear the Lord will hate evil.” Contemporary Christian writer John Piper says it another way: “As we mature as Christians, we love God more than we love the sin.” Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 7:1 that fear is the motivating force that helps us to walk away from sin.

John Bevere uses “real life” examples to illustrate his ideas and in Chapter 13, he recounts a visit to the penitentiary. He was there to visit a fallen pastor who was serving years behind bars for criminal activity. On top of that, this man had committed adultery and everyone in his church knew it.   The pastor had read Bevere’s writings and had requested a meeting. Like so many people, Bevere knew this pastor had a passionate love for God, in fact you might say he was “on fire for Jesus.” He had to ask, when did you fall out of love with Jesus?

The man’s response was so significant.

“John, I loved Jesus all the way through my transgressions, but I did not fear Him. There are millions of Americans who are just like me. They love Jesus but they don’t fear God.”

It is good to love God.

It is also prudent to fear God.

I certainly look back on my days with my father and I know that I loved him, but the day he made me go get my own switch taught me that he was not afraid to give me the punishment I deserved. From that day on, it was prudent to fear the punishment and necessary to avoid being bad enough to get the switch…

I had a chance to see my life from a different perspective about twenty-two years ago. I was “born-again” in the midst of the biggest crisis of my life.

It doesn’t happen like that for every one of course. Some people don’t have to have a big crisis to find their way to Jesus.

I just happen to be one of the ones who went that way.

When I was a “baby” Christian, I spent a lot of time learning the basics of Christianity. I was a church-goer most of my life [not very regular] but when I fell in love with God, I realized how much I did not know Him at all. I watched a lot of television about being Christian and one of my regular television preachers/teachers was Joyce Meyer. About twenty years ago, she wrote a book called The Battlefield of the Mind.

Today, I don’t watch Joyce much anymore. I don’t read her materials anymore but my mind is still a battlefield.

John Bevere opens Chapter 13 of his book Good or God? with references to “the battlefield.” He writes “The battlefield is our mind. It is our thoughts, emotions, and will that must be held in check. All sin begins in this arena. The battle usually occurs when we least expect it [186].

Bevere has written his book to call Christians to a higher standard. First Peter 1:15 states “You must be holy in everything you do.” In 2:11 Peter writes “I warn you as ‘temporary residents and foreigners’ to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” This Scripture is speaking about our lifestyles. When some see the word holy, they become discouraged. Holy is a word that intimidates many of us but as Bevere says, the idea of holy living is “attainable and not unrealistic.” “His commandments are not burdensome” [1 John, 5:3].

But where is the push and pull most noticeable in everyday life? Where is the battle being waged?

One of the most common arenas that can erode your belief system is your peer group. We all want to be accepted in life and we do all sorts of things to win the approval of our peers. You know how this works; what they do will influence what you do. If they overindulge with alcohol, the pressure is on for you to do it too. If their language is rude and crude, that may spill over into your expressions. If unjust criticism of others is a common topic, you will feel pressure to join in. The Message is a plainly written paraphrase of the Bible and here is the down-to-earth admonition regarding peers: “Your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself” [1 Peter, 4: 4-5].

Another area of life that can greatly diminish your faith is the influence of “false teachers.” You might wonder what a false teacher is. To be honest they can be pastors who care more about how huge their following is than preaching the truth. Pastor Bevere has commented throughout his book about church leaders who are willing to compromise in order to give the congregation a pleasant message. They can also be Christian teachers who lead conferences. They can even show up as Christian leaders of small groups. What is the result of their teaching? People have a problem distinguishing right from wrong. Behavior that is not acceptable will be labeled as good. When you make an effort to adhere to God’s word, this type of teacher will label you as “legalistic or judgmental”. When believers begin to have trouble discerning the difference between right and wrong, they will drift back into a lifestyle that is not Christian at all.
Bevere states that the Apostle Peter feels that a Christian who drifts back into ungodly living is worse off than before they receive Jesus. “It would have been better for them to never have known the way of truth than reject the command to live holy.”

The upshot of all this is that we really are in a battle for our minds. My Christian mentor in my “baby” days of Christianity was Mr. Chuck Dickerson and he always drilled into me that life is about choices and most choices boil down to what is right versus what is wrong.

What motivation do we have to fight the negative forces that would confuse us: the influence of our peers or false teachers? In Chapter 13, Bevere will elaborate further. Let me tease you: his thoughts will center on “two unbeatable forces.”

We need all the help we can get in order to win the battle going on, you know the one I mean…the battle that is going on in our minds.

Images communicate.

When we use them, these “visions” can mean something special to the person who experiences them or reads the image. Images are representations of an idea, a description that is brought about by words, an effort to make something tangible through the use of words.

Here are two images I have often used to talk about my personal struggle with sin.
One is me going around and around a mountain. I really want to climb up the side of the mountain, but I can’t. I am stuck on the same level of the mountain, just going around and around.

The other image is me wanting to enter a room. I really want to go in, but I can’t. I am stuck in the threshold. Something is keeping me from entering the room. The threshold is as far as I can go.

Why are these images important?

Because to me they represent my inability to grow, to move beyond my sins; I want to leave my sins behind but I can’t.

John Bevere is trying to communicate as much when he writes about the sins that contemporary society “allows.” It is uncomfortable to write about them but these sins are real and today many are “excused”.* Christians indulge in many of them and think nothing of it. However, these sins and our attitude about them can keep us from growing closer to God.

The sad thing is that many pastors preach a message that can keep people from growing. The irony is that message is the message of grace.

You know the message. It is such good news. Here is a super-simple explanation. God knows you and knows every sin you are capable of. He does not expect you to be perfect, a superman or a superwoman. As a human parent, do you love your child as a child or are you withholding your love until your child matures? You know the answer; you love your child at every level of development, an unconditional love. When your child stumbles, what do you do? You pick him or her up and don’t scold the child for stumbling. Our God is like that. He opens His arms to us and loves us unconditionally. His grace is extended to us to forgive our sins. That is a soothing, relaxing message. We are ok despite our failings.

This same New Testament message can also be what keeps us going around and around or stuck in the threshold. This New Testament message can lead to an attitude that no matter what I do, “my sins are covered” by grace.

I don’t know about you, but I want to leave my sins behind.

Here is where John Bevere confronts the reader with his idea that too many Christians serve “the world” or today’s culture or their peer group. Instead of serving God, they try to fit into contemporary life. The compromises are so frequent that serving God is no longer number one.

Hence, Bevere’s title “Good or God?” Do you follow the rules of contemporary society or God’s rules?

The New Testament is not devoid of commandments. By looking at the Book of Ephesians, Bevere has found many commandments that call us to a higher standard.*
We make a major error when we think that God is pleased when we give our lives to Him and then make no further effort to know Him. This is where “growing in grace” comes into play. Second Peter 3:18 tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” There are many ways to do that. We grow in grace by reading God’s Word and letting it “dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3:16) and by praying. I was disappointed for many years by my college students who rarely read textbooks. What did they expect of me? I was to come to class, lecture and give them all they needed to know to pass the test. Christians have that same expectation. They go to church, expecting the pastor to educate them, but they rarely ever make much effort to read the Bible themselves. Donald Whitney states “The Scriptures contain all the knowledge we will ever need to learn of God, His Son, and His Spirit, at least in this life. God`s desire for those He has saved is their sanctification and transformation. He wants us to become more holy like Himself. He wants to transform us into the image of His Son. The way to do this is by meditating on the Scriptures and applying their principles to our lives as we yield to the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.”

I would go even further, as we worship in church, spend time with other Christians in Sunday school, pray, read our Bibles and actively study Scripture, God will give us power to stand against the lowered standards of our culture. Pastor Bevere has drawn a lot on Ephesians for his list of New Testament commandments and he uses Ephesians again to warn us about falling into the idea that “grace will cover our sins.” “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. …Carefully determine what pleases the Lord; instead expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. …So be careful how you live [5: 6-7, 10-12, 15].

By merely meeting the standard of “good” we may fit into our clique. By meeting the standard of “good” we may be super successful as we compromise our way to the top. By meeting the standard of “good” we may be going around and around and stuck in a threshold.

Don’t you want to mature as a Christian?

Meeting the standard of “good” probably won’t allow that to happen.

Meet the standard of God and you will understand this scripture: Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.

*Don’t tell lies, Don’t let anger get out of control, Don’t steal, Don’t use foul or abusive language, Don’t be sexually immoral, Don’t be impure, Don’t be greedy, Don’t tell obscene stories, talk foolishly, or tell rude jokes, Don’t be drunk with wine.

I have always felt that communication is something people take for granted. Some people seem to have the gift of communication while others are not so adept at expressing themselves. In my opinion, very few people get that upset nowadays about their lack of ability. Everyone just seems to muddle through doing the best they can, not getting concerned enough to improve their communication ability.

We have tackled some very hard issues in John Bevere’s book [Chapter 12]. No sexual immorality, living out-of-wedlock, homosexuality, porn in the Christian’s life and greed have been what I call “hard topics.” Bevere calls out American society with his standards based on God rather than societal “good.”

And then he cites a scripture from Colossians: “Let your conversation be gracious and attractive.”

Oh no, now he says our speech should be “full of grace.”

Here is a simple secret that I have learned from many years of studying communication. The people who are best at communicating their ideas have the ability to understand the point of view of “the other.”

Wow, that sounds too simple doesn’t it? In my opinion, all of our communication problems can be boiled down to this simple secret.

And what about “the other.” What does that mean?

When people engage in foolish talk, rude talk, or obscene talk, they often are not thinking about the listener. They are only thinking about self. When people resort to anger, threat or hateful expression, they are using bullying to get their way instead of communicating. They don’t care about the listener. Yes, even lying, slander, and critical speech are hurtful and the goal is selfish. The speaker is using underhanded methods to get what they want. Bevere does not mention this, but gossip should be added to the list.
Selfish people don’t want to put themselves in another person’s mind. They are only concerned about their position on issues. They don’t realize that the more one can understand other positions, the more an acceptable compromise can be reached.
Sometimes communication does not have to lead to compromise. If people can clearly express themselves in a polite [graceful] manner, it is amazing how many will understand and have no problem with their ideas.

Let’s go back to the “G” word I mentioned two paragraphs up, you know gossip. It is a problem in all types of organizations, and church is no exception. According to author Jerry Bridges**, gossip is the spreading of unfavorable information about someone else. Gossip is often based on rumor. Gossip is self-centered communication because it feeds our sinful ego, especially if the information is negative. The gossiper can feel self-righteous [bad enough] but the gossiper can feel powerful too because they are passing along information that others are not aware of. They are an information insider.
People who pass along any information should be very careful. When I tell anything about anyone, I always preface my comments with “I think I have this right, but I am not sure.” People who study listening report a fifty percent loss of accuracy right after messages are received. Everyone has probably played the grapevine game in school, where a simple message is whispered from the teacher to one student who then passes the message on to their neighboring student. By the time the message gets around the room, the results can be hilarious.

If the information that is passed is negative, given the poor retention percentage, all kinds of things will be created in the sharing.

Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Sadly, in our society today which has become radically polarized, there is so much need for effective communication. When people “go to the poles” with their views, that does not mean that their views are all bad or all good. Many positions in our society today have some good ideas, maybe along with some bad ideas. What is so sad is that we don’t take the time to search for the good ideas in other people. We are quick to label and we are quick to shut our ears.

Then comes foolish talk, rude talk, obscene talk along with anger, threat and hateful expression. And yes, one of the most damaging kinds of talk we can use is gossip.
David prayed in Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Just because all this hurtful communication is acceptable to society today, does not mean it is acceptable. John Bevere is certainly trying to make a strong point about communication.

Hurtful communication is not acceptable to God. It truly is sin.

*I usually try to post every two days but with Chapter 12, I have taken extra time because the issues take so much thought. I have had several third day posts and that is why…his ideas are tough to write about.
**Bridges has written a book entitled “Respectable Sins”.