St. John Studies

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”.

As John Bevere continues with his list of don’ts that are evident in the New Testament, he touches on the idea that Christians should try to lead pure lives. What he is really writing about is no pornography, no lewd videos or anything that encourages lustful thinking. As I write this post, my wife is watching one of her favorite soap operas on television and if anyone has seen a contemporary soap opera today, you know there is more skin exposed than in the past. Oh well, just a sign of the times…

It seems that near nakedness is everywhere and of course with a mouse click, total nakedness is easily accessible.

Since writing about the “don’ts” in Chapter 12, I realize that Bevere’s list runs headlong into today’s cultural values. Let’s be honest, many people see nothing wrong with material that encourages lust. Bevere has some statistics that reveal the pulse of America today regarding this issue. Over forty million Americans regularly visit porn sites, every second 28,258 users are viewing porn. Porn sites are the second most popular site to visit only surpassed by social media sites.*

Ok, what does that matter? Christians don’t have a problem with this do they?

You know they do. A recent CNN poll reported that fifty percent of evangelical Christian men are addicted to porn, and seventy percent of Christian men struggle with it.
That sounds like a major problem in the church but many don’t think it is. Steve Gallagher, founder of Pure Life Ministries says “The Church’s greatest threat to the church today is not so much the pornography itself, but the lackadaisical attitude many Christians have towards the wrongness of it.

Note the title of this post: “The Problem Most Choose to Ignore.” That is a broad statement. Not everyone ignores the problem but in my years of being in a church and participating in presentations for Christian audiences, I have never seen a stand against pornography in the church. I do have a pastor friend who is leading a seminar to help men with porn in his church right now and he told me that several men have come forward to participate. His bold action is the exception.

Years ago, I had a very talented friend who decided he should leave the United States and continue his work in Brazil. From that point on, it was easier to communicate via emails and we did that over a period of time. As he established his family in his new location, he began to share more private information about his life. It turns out he had an addiction to pornography, an addiction that I found very strange, for my friend was a pastor. I will never forget his admission that he looked at naked women on his church computer and then would go and preach a sermon to his church. It was good that he had me to talk to about his problem and it turns out that he is not alone. Christianity Today magazine did a survey in which pastors were asked if they’d visited a pornographic website in the past year. Fifty-four percent answered “yes.”

Yes, a significant percentage of the leaders in our churches.

What has to happen for this to become a problem we no longer choose to ignore? First of all, we need to admit that men are really affected by this form of visual stimulation and their thoughts can cause guilt, poor relationships with the opposite sex, and an inability to be close with God. This is weakening Christian men from the inside out. Families can be destroyed. I have a friend who revealed that she divorced her husband due to his incessant porn use. He just could not curb his need to see women other than his wife. Secondly, the accessibility of porn is a major problem that must be addressed. Computers are everywhere and to access porn only takes a click and there you are. The attitude about it needs to change. Being alone with your computer, it is easy to think, “I am not hurting anyone; it is just me and my pleasure.” We are never alone. When we sin, God knows but because of the acceptance of porn in our culture, it is easy to try to justify its use. Thirdly, the internet is a wonderful tool which has allowed all of us easy access to information that we never had before, but with the wonderful good comes the bad. Many Christians don’t believe that spiritual warfare is a real thing but I am one who does. Satan does not want us to grow stronger in our love for Christ and I think that the darker aspects of the internet retard our growth in our relationship with God. To ignore the attack that is being levied against many men today is foolish. The attack is real and is designed to weaken men.

Pastor Bevere admits his own use of pornography; he struggled with it until he was twenty-seven. He was married, he was in the early years of his ministry and he expected that he would be able to stop his accessing of porn. But he struggled. He never got the words he needed to stop until he confided in another pastor who put the fear of God in him. The pastor’s words that worked were “stop it.”

Many Christians believe that only New Testament teaching is relevant for us. Fearing God is an Old Testament thing but a little fear can be a good thing. For men who grow beyond porn use, a little New Testament grace is a good thing too, as we use it to experience forgiveness, salvation and empowerment, empowerment over the use of porn.

God doesn’t want us to be locked in a struggle with porn. He wants us to know Him intimately. It is not news to God that we have a powerful anti-God force called sin. He wants us to grow beyond our self-centeredness to have a power to love Him with our heart, mind and strength. Ignoring real problems will not make them go away. Excusing problems because our culture says they are acceptable is not the answer.
Maybe Bevere’s pastor friend was right: “STOP IT!”

*“The Stats on Internet Pornography” from The Daily Infographic.com, 2014.

In Acts 20: 26-27 it says “I am clean and innocent and not responsible for the blood of any of you. For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God” [from the Amplified Bible]. This is Paul speaking directly to his church leaders. John Bevere’s book Good or God? is his effort to teach and preach the whole counsel of God to today’s church. Like Paul, he desires to be clean and innocent because he has declared the counsel of God.

In Chapter 12, he writes about the issues of sexual immorality; tough words for today’s Christians to hear: don’t have sex outside of marriage [premarital sex, adultery and “living together”]. As our culture becomes more accepting of these ways, he states that we ignore God and convince ourselves it is ok. When we hear the message of acceptance on television, the internet, books, magazines, movies etc. it becomes something akin to the “bandwagon fallacy,” everyone is doing it, jump on the bandwagon for it must be ok.
Bevere says no, it is not.

Under the topic of sexual immorality, he takes on the idea that homosexuality is “ok”. I venture to say that no cultural issue has been more difficult to work with in the church than this one. In my church denomination we had a woman elevated to the job of Bishop [in the United Methodist Church, women can pastor at all levels]. However, in 2016 Pastor Karen Oliveto lost her bishopric because the highest ruling body in the church [the Judicial Council] removed her from her post, citing “she was in violation of church law, because she is married to another woman”.

This is just one example of how Christians, churches and whole denominations struggle with this issue. It is indeed a complex one.

Years ago, I began to try to understand how I felt about this. I knew that some Christians openly despised homosexuals, citing Leviticus 20:13 “If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense” [New Living Translation]. That is all I knew because I was not a serious reader of Scripture. At the same time I saw homosexuality becoming more open, discussed in all forms of media. As a “Christian” who did not know the Bible, I was bothered by this because I knew the New Testament was filled with Scripture that touted that we should love one another.

Then I read Peter Gomes’ book entitled The Good Book.

Gomes was a professor of Christian morals at Harvard Divinity School and the pastor at Harvard’s Memorial Church. When I read his book, I was not a reader of the Bible but I found time to read Gomes’ book, which attacked the notion that God condemns homosexuals. Gomes passed away in 2011 but in 1991 while he was in his position at Harvard, he declared to the world that he was gay. His defense of his sexual orientation is complex but to put it simply, he felt God was referring to excessive human behaviors in Leviticus, behaviors that were so destructive they threatened the fiber of the community. The gay person who engages in a loving, monogamous relationship is not the person who is condemned in Leviticus.* In his mind, homosexuality is not a threat to the moral order. In fact, homophobia is a horrible form of hatred that is often practiced by Christians who should be professing love for their fellow man.

The book had a profound effect on me because I thought he made a good argument and I did not want to hate others due to their sexual orientation.

Then I started reading the Bible for the first time. Twenty years ago, I had a terrific need for answers so I read the New Testament from beginning to end in about two weeks. It was wonderful. I got some solid answers but as a novice reader of Scripture, I knew I did not understand God’s word in just one quick reading. I felt the need to read it again and again and again.

The more I read the Bible, the more I began to understand the difference between God’s standards and the world’s standards, the push and pull between the Bible and culture. This is something that all Christians have to deal with as they decide how to live out their lives. I began to read passages in the New Testament like Matthew 19:4 “Haven’t you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate His art” [The Message]. Romans 1 states “This is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway” [verses 26-27].

This is very clear.

Personally, my mind began to change because I could not deny the words from God. I began to realize that Pastor Gomes may be wrong. People may choose to be homosexual** but that choice is going against the Bible.

At the same time I could not do what so many of my Christian friends were doing, openly despising gay people. The same Bible that informed me about God’s thoughts on homosexuality also told me to love my fellow man, and the verses did not say “fellow heterosexual man or heterosexual woman.”

If this is a choice or a predisposition** that people have, I don’t have to choose to hate them and as a Christian, I don’t.

I don’t believe John Bevere hates homosexuals either; he just thinks he must draw a distinction between the acceptance of their sexual orientation in the world and their acceptance of their sexual orientation in the church.

“If we don’t proclaim truth…from our pulpits, people will be unaware of what is godly behavior and will be fooled by the evil one. They will accept what the world identifies as good, thinking God approves” [Bevere, 177].

Reading his book may be of great benefit to Christians who struggle with this issue but one can receive the greatest benefit from reading The Bible…God’s word to all of us.

*My apologies to the memory of Dr. Gomes; his argument is much more than what I can reflect in a blog post.

**due to the constraint of length, this post will not address the debate about genetic predisposition to homosexuality vs. social conditioning of homosexuality.