St. John Studies

Taking responsibility is hard to do. Shifting blame is so much easier.

To be honest, some have turned shifting blame into an art form.

When a divorce occurs, it is the other person’s horribly irritating faults that have caused the problems. When a person strays away into an affair, it was caused by the other person’s neglect or the other person’s boring behavior. Naturally when an attentive, exciting person comes along, the new chance at a better relationship makes sense. When someone turns to alcohol, maybe someone has been so cruel to them that drinking is the only way to cope. The bottle is the crutch that is needed to help one get through the day. The list can go on and on. Everyone is blamed except the person who really deserves the blame…the person who committed the act.

To this end, Pastor Bevere concludes Chapter 8 with a Biblical contrast illustrating the power of taking responsibility: David vs. Saul.

I have seen a man cry as he confessed his sin. When a man takes total responsibility for a mistake, it can be tough to watch. David knew he had sinned and he cried out in his pain. In my experience, it is so uncomfortable to watch someone do this that the natural response is to try to get the repentant person to admit that it was not totally their fault. I think the goal of that is to get them to calm down. I know the “natural response” is something we may feel compelled to do but on the other hand, there is something extremely admirable about a person who has taken responsibility. Tears are probably symbols of honest contrition. They help relieve the sinner of their grief. They humble the sinner and set them up to actually get past the sin and experience some degree of reconciliation with God.

Read the words of King David in the book of Psalms as he cries out in his grief. He has hurt his relationship with God and he knows it. He has committed adultery and murder. “Against You and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight” [Psalm 51:4]. David is expressing truth and it is hard to read.

A contrast to David is King Saul. Saul had a need to be powerful in the world. He had a lavish lifestyle and a terrific sense of pride. When God gave Saul specific instructions, he decided to do what he wanted. God asked him to exterminate the Amalekites. The instructions were explicit: don’t just kill the men, but the women and children also, and even the cattle – spare nothing and no one. Saul, in his pride, kept some of the booty from his military exploits. He disobeyed God.

Saul knew he had displeased God but he does not seem as repentant as David. Some people handle their sinning like Saul. They are less concerned about the sin and more concerned that they have been caught sinning. They are embarrassed by the public exposure. Of course, if they had not been caught, everything would be ok. Sin unexposed is not sin.

What is the message of this contrast? Maybe it can best be summed up in the Scripture from 2 Corinthians 7:10: “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin.”

God knew Saul’s sorrow was not going to do that and God removed him from his kingship. David’s sorrow was genuine and heartfelt and he was restored.

Since Pastor Bevere is writing about our tendency to fall in love with worldly things, what is the point that he is trying to make about responsibility? As Christians, we need to own up to our failings in this regard. To use a trite expression, “we can’t have our cake and eat it too.”

Simply put, he says “friendship with the world affects our experiential relationship with God…substituting good for God has cost us greatly, both on the personal and the corporate church level.”

Shifting blame is not the way to handle sin. Taking responsibility is hard to do but it is best. Expressing truth is so hard to do sometimes but restoration is what we want…not removal.

Sometimes a pastor just hits too close to home: as John Bevere concludes Chapter 8 in his book Good or God?, that is exactly what happens.

He reveals that he has had love affairs other than his love affair with God and his wife…
I have had one too and before you jump to a conclusion, it was with a sport, an all-consuming sport—golf. When Bevere speaks of his loving devotion to golf, it was as if he was writing my thoughts. I was right there with him in his struggle.

For me, it began with my Dad. Dad really liked the game and slowly he introduced me to it by hitting golf balls around our yard. We lived in the country, so sometimes he took out his driver and hit balls into the front field and I would go out in the field and try to retrieve them. Sometimes I would go out in the field and watch the drives go out from his club and it was fascinating and powerful watching the ball arc high up in the air.

In the early 1960’s, Dad was instrumental in constructing a local country club, volunteering his farming machinery and valuable time to clear the land and prepare the fairways. He was truly involved. He became a charter member of the club.

With his involvement, I had a place to try out my golf game and I began to do just that. I had a friend or two who played and I began to try to play. It was fun but I was not very good. I played until I left for college in 1970 but college was so time consuming that I put golf aside for many years.

Eventually, I got a job as a college teacher and I discovered some golfing buddies at work who were interested in the game far beyond what I used to be. Their love of the game slowly began to infect me as I found myself playing more and getting better at the sport. I used to go play nine holes and lose about six golf balls. To explain my improvement, I was now playing eighteen holes, my score was going lower and I played a complete round with the same ball. To be honest, I was far from the golfers you see on television but I was competitive with my buddies and that is all that mattered.

I sought opportunities to play more, watched hours of golf on television and developed an interest in spending more money on equipment. As I played more, I hit some shots and had some rounds that I began to be proud of and then it happened.

I began to spend a lot of time day-dreaming about golf. I would recall with vivid visions, the shots I hit, you know the one hundred eighty yard three wood that nestled right up next to the cup, the twenty-five foot putt that rolled into the hole, the approach shot with the pitching wedge that sent my ball up for a birdie [oh oh, I am lapsing into golf-speak].

While all this was happening, I can tell you what I was not doing. I was not worried about my family and since I was day-dreaming about golf a lot, guess what I was doing in church [when I occasionally went]? I was not listening to the pastor all the time; I was seeing golf shots in my mind.

By now, you have figured out where I am going with this. Golf became number one in my life and God knew it and my wife knew it.

Until I hit the hardest brick wall I have ever hit in my life happened and it all stopped.

In the process of dealing with this trauma, I began to see how misplaced my heart and affections were. I began to see that a game where you hit a little white ball with sticks is just a game. It was taking too much of my time and money and drawing me away from what is truly very important. I went through a period of guilt that I was so distracted by the sport. I did not give up the game but I began to see the error of my ways. About this time, I began to commit my life to Christ and along with that I began to assume a much better, a much more healthy commitment to my family. I began replacing my golfing buddies with a wife and child [the way it always should have been].

Recently I have had another hiccup of life. I fell from a ten foot ladder and broke my pelvis. Needless to say, my surgeon ruled out golf for several months and as I continue to recover, I have been preoccupied with much simpler things like regaining my ability to walk, mow my yard, drive a car etc.

The summer is almost over and the weather is beginning to cool. No golf at all in 2017. Here is my question: will I be able to play golf? Another question is, will I enjoy it? Will it be what it should have been all along: a source of recreation and enjoyment? Can I feel refreshed out on the golf course as I enjoy fellowship with others?

This is the week I will see.

Or will I be like so many people who are obsessed with the sport? Will I fall into a trap and give it my heart and affection?

You know this post is about much more than one person’s struggle with obsession. It is about leading a balanced life, a reasonable life, a life with a good sense of priorities—with God first, followed by family.

Play a game, enjoy a game but when the game is over, move on to much more important aspects of life that truly deserve serious attention.

Don’t fall in love with the world and neglect God; that love affair is not worth the cost.

I had an opportunity to go on a trip with two friends. One was a teacher like me but he taught in a different discipline [he was a scientist]. The other friend was a pastor. We arrived at our destination which was a golf resort and we settled in. We played eighteen holes of golf after we arrived and that, with the travel of the day, made us pretty tired. Instead of going out, we decided to stay in the condo for the night and we broke out the Uno cards. My pastor friend and I started shuffling and we called to our third friend, let’s play Uno! He said “I don’t play cards; they are of the devil.”

That stopped us in our tracks.

What was going on; why was Uno of the devil? In my previous post, I commented on John Bevere’s concern that “the world” would seduce us into sinning. The whole post was dedicated to trying to explain that life has many temptations that can draw us away from a strong relationship with God. A little lowered standard here and another lowered standard there and before too long, you may find yourself doing something in your heart you know is wrong, dead wrong.

Maybe playing Uno…

But seriously folks, let’s not judge my scientist friend. He felt that card playing could hurt his relationship with God but some of you may think that Uno is not that bad. Maybe that standard is a bit too high.

All of this leads into a discussion of legalism. Legalism is a word that is tossed around in Christian circles so much but what does it mean? A dictionary definition means a “strict adherence to law or prescription, especially to the letter rather than to the spirit of the law.” An added explanation is “judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws.”

People who practice legalism have long lists of “don’ts.” Some examples are don’t dance, don’t watch movies, don’t read certain books, don’t wear jewelry, have stylish hair, or wear makeup. Women are not supposed to wear pants. Piercings and tattoos are strictly prohibited.

Let’s be honest, if a person is totally convinced that any of these “don’ts” get in the way of their relationship with God, they should not do them. It is a personal choice and no one can declare them wrong.

Here is the problem. Often people who practice legalism have problems with the outward appearances of others. They are very harsh in their judgement. Because they are strict in their adherence, they can fall into the practice of spiritual superiority. Many times legalists are so focused on the outward signs of “good” behavior that they don’t really enjoy life. They are also often under constant pressure to serve God through church administration, volunteering, or giving resources to the poor. There is a definite effort to earn the favor of God.

Now I know that this may sound confusing but legalists can be rooted “in the world” as much as a worldly sinner is because they don’t want to be dependent on God for their salvation. They have taken that firmly in their own hands.
Legalists, according to Bevere, “don’t possess true joy. They live in a very small world because those who don’t think like they do are filtered out.” They don’t understand Paul’s thoughts in Colossians 2: “Why do you keep on following the rules of the world such as ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste, Don’t touch?’ Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them…they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”

What is the answer to all of this?

The focus should not be on outward manifestations of spirituality, the effort of the devout Christian should be on the treasure of his or her heart. Bevere says “this is the battlefield; this is where the web is spun. This is where friendship or adultery with the world begins and is eventually consummated. And it can happen as easily with a person who rarely attends church as with one who never misses a service and is heavily involved in ministry” [101].

Yes, you can live a life with strict adherence to rules but don’t be confused: God is the one who determines what is good or bad, not man. Maybe playing Uno is a horrible sin but maybe not. Not playing Uno does not help clean up a person’s heart and the heart is the target of “the world.”

It would be best to focus less on man’s rules and more on God’s and “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” [Proverbs 4:24].

“Can someone carry the filth of the world in their heart and still have a genuine relationship with God?”

This is Pastor John Bevere* asking the one question I knew he was going to ask. Did you not see it coming? He further brings up the idea of grace. “Does the grace of Jesus Christ eradicate the necessity of cleansing ourselves from the world’s filth?”

Here are the answers from 2nd Corinthians, answers that we often do not hear quoted from the pulpit. Scripture we don’t often study in Sunday school or Bible studies: “As God said, ‘I will live in them and walk among them and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body and spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God’” [6:16–7:1].

People who are blessed enough to study the Bible know that it echoes. New Testament verses recall verses from the Old Testament. Old Testament verses foreshadow New Testament Scripture. That is the mighty power of God’s scripture: forty men of diverse backgrounds writing over a period of 1,500 years and yet you have echoes and foreshadowing.

Here Paul is quoting what God said to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb [depending on the writings in Exodus or Deuteronomy].

In Old Testament times, very few men could muster enough desire for an authentic relationship with God. Bevere lists Moses, David, Daniel, Isaiah. These men purposefully rid themselves of worldly motives.

How many of us can do that today?

The world can be a horrible place, full of wars, famine, suffering, poverty, things that impact Christians and non-Christians alike. By remembering that we are “not of this world,” remembering that these things are just for a little while, we can see them in a different light and we should see them in a different light. The world can be a horrible place for us to fall into the temptation of sinning. Around every corner, we are cajoled into doing things that we know we should not do but we give in anyway. We think we can hide our motives, putting on a “Christian façade” when God knows what we are doing and He knows why we are doing it. Over and Over God warns that we should not worship idols and yet that is what we do, easily falling prey to various whims that society tells us we have to have, from the latest most flashy cars to the most wonderful over-the-top house.

I  just recently heard a familiar wail, that we should not bury our heads as Christians. We should defend ourselves when people try to take away our valued activities. We often hear that the Bible has been taken out of school, prayer has been taken out of school and we can’t say Christmas anymore. I have often wondered about Christians who have abdicated their rights like this. I taught school for thirty-six years and I never asked that a Bible be removed or saw any sign that it could not be carried. When I saw a student pray before a test, my heart was gladdened and I have never been told directly by anyone that I could not say Christmas. Christian faith is a lifestyle that you can live without anti-Christian people telling you that you have to cease and desist. If you truly believe, you will find a way to let it show. You practice your faith, despite what the world says.

I have had other Christians tell me that we should be involved in the political arena. In all my years, I have never seen that amount to much. Some pastors may advocate a certain politician and then he or she gets in office after pandering to Christians and they do what they want to do. Good Christians who try to politicize their faith wind up feeling disappointed and feeling used, relegated to “window dressing” on a politician’s evangelical panel.

We need to get what is going on in 2nd Corinthians. We are living in this world but we are not supposed to get involved in the filth of this world. Jesus says that His kingdom is “not of this world.” As His followers, Christians are members of His kingdom which is “not of this world.” By remembering that we are “not of this world,” remembering that these things are just for a little while, we can see them in a different light. We are still in this world but we are no longer of it. We are still surrounded by all the horrors and tragedy of this life, but this is not our life. The knowledge that we are not of this world gives Christians hope even in the darkest times; hope that this will pass and at the end of it we will be in heaven with our God, face to face forever. This cracked and broken place is not where we belong, and it is not where we will stay.**

Bevere says “To maintain the most beneficial internal GPS setting—toward a close relationship with God—it would seem that the word holiness is a key factor.” Holiness is not found in reacting to the stresses and strains of this world. Holiness is not found in complaining about the things that have supposedly been taken away from us. Holiness is certainly not found in the political arena.

The GPS Bevere is referring to is internal. It tells us the correct directions, avoiding the filth of this world.

My GPS is my Holy Spirit. God guides, I respond and no one can take it away from me.

*From the book Good or God?
**From the Gotquestions.org Website, 2017.

I don’t know if I have heard the words “delayed gratification” lately.

Some people don’t want to delay their gratification. They want what they want and they want it now. They are not willing to hold out for more.

Let’s skip the starter home. I want the dream home as my first home.

I don’t want to drive the old beater for a few years; I want the fancy new car right now.

Working at a fast food business as my first job is not going to cut it; I would rather not work at all if all I do all day is flip burgers.

John Bevere spends the better part of Chapter 6 in his book writing about the choices of a young man who was willing to wait for the best.

He writes about Moses.

As kids, most of us were introduced to Moses. We know the story of his adoption in Pharaoh’s home, his grooming as a prince. He had the best of everything, yet it was not what he really wanted.

He wanted to be in the presence of God and he was willing to hold out for it.

He had skipped the starter home, he had the fanciest chariot and he had a dream job: little work and people around him to take care of his every need, but he wanted more. In Hebrews it says “By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life…[11: 24-25 from The Message]. He was holding out for his great reward. He wanted to be in the presence of God.

To the people of his day, this seemed illogical. What better circumstances could a person have than living in the Egyptian royal court? To many this was utopia, yet he wanted to lead his people out of Egypt to face the times of wandering in the wilderness, “no beautiful valleys, streams, forests, fruit trees…no markets, shopping, new clothing…a strange bread that appears on the ground six days a week and periodically some quail for meat” [Bevere, 78-79]. The Israelites did not have the easy life of Moses; they were slaves used to build for their Egyptian masters, but now Moses has led them to a new life, a life of deprivation in a hard land [but at least they were not slaves].

They weren’t happy. The strange bread every day got boring and they did not see that they were headed to any better life situation. They began to grumble. Some even said that it would be best to return to slavery under Pharoah.

But there was a promise. God said that they would be rewarded by life in a land of promise, the land of Canaan [rich and fertile, overflowing with abundance]. There would even be a warrior angel who would protect them from all foes.

Can you imagine what the people were thinking? Wow, now we can have beautiful houses of our own. We can have our own culture and we will be able to pass on our inheritance to our children. Finally, we have hope, but there is one thing standing in our way: Moses.

God tells Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land but He is not going to go. Moses replies “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” He chooses the desert with God over the Promised Land without God. What was going on? He knows that having God’s presence was more valuable than any material thing that could be provided. His choice was not easy but it was right. He chose continued deprivation over a much easier life. He was willing to delay gratification.

How many would make his choice? Probably very few. He faced tremendous pressure from his people to get them to a better situation but he held out for more. He wanted the best. He wanted the promised land and he wanted God. He also believed that God would eventually get his people to the Land of Canaan and God did.

Have you ever heard the old expression “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?” If we can extend this metaphor, Moses would have had faith that the real blessing was in the bush. I know that Moses is not in this expression but if he was, he probably would believe that there were two birds in the bush. More than that, he had seen God in the burning bush and absolutely nothing topped that. He wanted the best. He wanted an authentic relationship with God.

He was willing to wait. He was willing to delay gratification. He knew the best life was a life with God.

*Good or God?

Late adopter: someone who is slow to use a new product, technology or idea.

I guess my wife and I are late adopters.

It took us a long time to purchase a GPS, long after the technology was being utilized by everyone else. After I got GPS, I was fascinated. Then after several trips with strange routes or slightly incorrect destinations, I began to wonder if there was something better.

A smart phone!

Now my wife has a smart phone with of course Google Map technology, and more accurate, up-to-date GPS technology.

Everyone else has been using these for years but here we are—the late adopters.

As we were getting closer to our destination yesterday, my wife admitted that she really likes a good old fashioned paper map but our smart phone got us to our destination without a hitch.

My point is, no matter what gets you to your destination, it is important for you to get there. Being lost is not fun if it is a permanent state. Along the way, it is important for you to make the correct decisions, the “right choices” so to speak.

Pastor John Bevere begins Chapter Six in his book Good or God? with the analogy of the GPS. I think it is a good analogy for the Christian life.

When one begins a journey, the destination has to be entered into the technology. Some people really don’t have a clear idea of where they want to go; they have a town to travel to but maybe they are not sure about the specific address of their location. What may happen as they travel? They will wind up at some vague location like a “city center” which may be far from where they want to go. Along the way, we have choices to make. We may see something that is interesting or even distracting so we decide we have to “veer off the path.” That is ok. We have freedom and sometimes taking a little adventure makes the trip enjoyable. I am reminded of the expression “we need to take time to smell the roses.” Veer off and have some fun.

The problem with some of us is we get distracted and never get back on the road.

That is an exaggeration of course; we want to get to our destination eventually, so we will get back on the road but let’s work with this analogy a while.

I once had a very good friend, a mentor who told me at a time when I was confused about my life, that all life is, is a series of choices. This mentor [who has passed on now] was a Christian. I would describe his life as a life of Christian action. Whenever he could, wherever he was, he would take time to help others who had a need. You see, he had what Bevere writes about in Chapter Six; he had an internal GPS, a clear destination and a clear way to get there. He knew that his choices mattered. He also knew that life is full of distractions that take you off course. He was a Methodist and at the time I met him, I was not really sure what I was. He explained that he lived by John Wesley’s motto: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”

As we look at people travel through life, we have to admit that we all have limited perspectives. We never see people at all the times of their life; we all have our struggles and none of us is perfect. He wasn’t flawless but he strived to be the best man he could be. He knew his Holy Spirit was his GPS and his destination was the best relationship he could have with his Lord and Savior. Thomas Merton, the monk writing in his book Thoughts in Solitude, used the following words in a special prayer he prayed and I think this is a wonderful time to share it. “I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road.” I would say my friend lived that prayer.

What is that desire he is speaking about? What is that destination that my mentor had in his life?

Let’s turn to the quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, at the beginning of Chapter 6: “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.”

Don’t be a late adopter; use a GPS and have a specific destination.

Many of you have been there…leadership positions at your church where you have to participate in making financial decisions. I have been to many church council meetings where the largest chunk of meeting time was devoted to hand-wringing about church finances.

I have even been to intercessory prayer groups where discussion drifted to attendance and finances instead of prayer.

I guess it is bound to happen. People worry about how to keep the church doors open. It is a real world problem.

But think for a moment about Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler, the way he challenged him to “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, take up your cross, and follow me” [Mark 10:21].

The rich young ruler walked away in sorrow at this challenge.

I can hear it now, those money minded church trustees or council members “Pastor Jesus, Your church’s attendance will drop if You keep treating eager men and women like this, especially wealthy and influential ones. Go after him and soften the message; surely he will embrace the whole truth after a while!” [Bevere, 68].

Jesus did not do that. He did not run after him. He just let him go. He spoke the truth to him. The rich young ruler could not accept it and made his choice to leave.

What has happened to the truth in today’s world when we are more interested in putting people in the pews than telling them the truth? John Bevere* says “We’ve fallen into the trap of doing almost anything to get a convert and create a following. We employ accommodation techniques to build church attendance, gain followers of Twitter, increase our fan base on Facebook, or get people to read our blogs. This is nothing less than communicating to God that our wisdom is sounder than His. Again, it’s choosing the good over God” [69].

Ouch!

Maybe Jesus did not beg the rich young ruler to follow Him, but he could have employed another strategy.

I have seen so many television evangelists preaching about planting seeds. I think of one [who will remain nameless] who always talks about investing in his ministry and the rate of return on the investment. He could have approached the rich young ruler like that because I am sure he was a successful businessman. I can hear it now: “You can position yourself for a huge blessing, a harvest of financial success. If you would just plant a seed in my ministry, you will receive a harvest that is tenfold your initial pledge!”

The Word tells us that when we give, it will be given back to us. Look at the wonderful news in Mark 10: 28-30: what you give up will be returned to you a hundred times and in the world to come you will have eternal life.

Why did Jesus not pull out this investment enticement and use it on the rich young ruler?

The answer is simple: Jesus did not use the benefit and reward payoff to get people to follow Him. When He called His disciples, He said simply “follow Me.” Follow Me because I am Jesus, Your Creator, the Master, and King of the Universe.

That was enough for Peter, James, John and Andrew. They left their business even though on the day they left, Jesus had just told them how to bring in two overflowing boatloads of fish.

They left and Jesus accepted them because they would do anything for Him and He knew it.

Maybe, today we have calculated what people can stand to sacrifice to follow God and the honest answer is they won’t sacrifice much. Bevere says this “is the root of America’s failing spiritual condition.” We have so many in churches who think they are following Jesus when they are really not. “Let’s be honest, if this rich young man came to many of our cutting-edge churches today, he would have been ‘saved’ and before long he would be considered a prized member and perhaps asked to join the church board.”

Ouch ouch!

I have a friend who would be saying right now “Bevere has gone from preaching to pure meddling.”

But has he?
As he closes Chapter 5 of his book, he says “for the strength of the church, and for the sake of truly walking in the blessings of God, let’s forsake the inadequate, “good” gospel message and return to the tree of life [not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] the biblical message of salvation.”

Is it good or God?

Choose God.

*author of Good or God?