St. John Studies

In my prayer group, there is someone who says the key to growth in our church is to make it more inviting to people. That is his prayer. I run into a choir member who reports to me that our music is going to change and it is slowly going to be more “praise and worship” music so more people will want to come to church. I hear of a church in our community that dismissed the pastor because he preached too many messages that offended church-goers; the sermons were not very “encouraging.”

What does a church have to do to survive?

I guess a church needs to be upbeat with worship and for goodness sakes, avoid any sermon that is negative. Don’t condemn today’s behavior.

You know what would happen if behavior was condemned?

That would drive people away; they would feel so chastened that they would be uncomfortable.

Pastor John Bevere starts out Chapter 11 in his book Good or God? with a story about a pastor who addressed his church in this manner: “What I’m about to say may be a little negative. I usually don’t speak this way because I don’t convict people with my messages. I leave conviction to the Holy Spirit” [157]. Bevere struggles with the approach this pastor takes. It makes sense because the Holy Spirit does convict but aren’t pastors supposed to show people that the way they live their lives is wrong?

In Chapter 11, Bevere calls out his own vocational group. He cites a pastor and his wife who were interviewed on a news program. The interviewer brought up the topic of sexual immorality and the pastor’s response was “It is not my place to tell anyone how to live.” Bevere got an invitation to preach at another church but as a condition of his preaching, the pastor said “this church only wants to hear good news, speak nothing negative.” In the interest of getting people into the church door, are pastors preaching about good and ignoring God?

Here is my admission. I am not perfect. I also don’t know it all. I need help in order to live a better life and part of that help may be a pastor correcting me, telling me I am going the wrong way. My Bible tells me that telling church members their behavior is wrong is part of a pastor’s job.

Second Timothy says as much:  “preach the word [as an official messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct [those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible patience and [faithful] teaching”   [from the Amplified Bible].

Yes, sometimes we respond to messages from pastors that say we need to correct ourselves. We need to change and we do.

However, sometimes the attitude is that once we are saved it is ok. We don’t need to hear any negative stuff from that point on. We have made our commitment to Christ and that means our future sins are covered by grace. Maybe we have the attitude of Felix and his wife Drusilla. Paul was preaching to them about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. Drusilla was a Jew. In The Message, the event was characterized in this manner: “Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and His people about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgement, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed Paul. “That’s enough for today. I’ll call you back when it is convenient” [Acts 24: 24-25]. When we are confronted with correction, it is very inconvenient. It can be downright uncomfortable. Bevere says “There are some church leaders whose primary goal is to get seekers back to the next Sunday’s service.” Paul was not sugar-coating his message. He was speaking truth.

Bevere is not advocating that church be a place where 100% of the worship experience should be negative. He is not advocating that church be a place where 100% of the worship experience be positive. He is advocating for a balance.

Today’s church may be “out of balance” when it comes to helping people grow in their Christian lives. First Corinthians 10:23 says “I am allowed to do anything” but we know that not everything is beneficial for our lives. Maybe all of us need to admit our need for correction. The big question that I would pose is this: would you rather be corrected by a pastor who has concern for your life in Christ or would you rather continue your ways and either be stuck in your growth as a Christian or continue in a lifestyle that is not appropriate for our faith?

Seems to be a “no-brainer” to me…

As humans get more mature [I am trying to be positive about aging], we tend to reminisce. Things were so much better when we were all younger. We love to speak about the “good ole days.” Life was simpler, everyone was much happier and even though we had to “walk miles to school in knee deep snow”, we loved life. After all, all that walking was good for us and we were all much healthier then…

John Bevere is not a pastor who wants to hold to the old ways so much that his current message is not relevant; he is willing to be progressive and he knows we have to look forward in our thinking…

Except when it comes to grace and holiness…

He says that today in the “good new days” we have undersold grace.

As he concludes Chapter 10 in his book Good or God?, he revisits this idea of grace and declares that today we may be compromising the Word of God. Earlier in his book he writes about Adam and Eve and God’s commands of “you shall not eat” of the fruit from the tree of knowledge. In contemporary society, he states that we are selective in responding to God’s commands. “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” is where we stop paying attention and we conveniently leave off the “you shall not eat” command.

Of course, Jesus is the one who has introduced us to grace but Jesus has also given us commands or expectations. For example, Jesus has told us not to lie, not to be prone to anger, not to steal and not to use foul language [see my October 5 and October 2nd post]. Bevere’s thinking is that we have used grace to rationalize our sins today. God will cover our weaknesses with His understanding of our nature and His forgiveness.

Bevere thinks that grace can do much more than “cover” our sins. Grace can empower us to be better people, better Christians, growing Christians. He turns to Revelation 3:1 to make his point: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.” Jesus is talking to the church at Sardis through a messenger. Besides calling this church dead, He goes further: “Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead, I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God” [3:2]. Then comes the key verse in Revelation 3:3: “Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.”

In other words, it is important to return to the “good ole days.”

Bevere feels that too many Christians have strayed from God’s standard. Paul writes “For God has revealed His grace for the salvation of all people. That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
Give up worldly passions. godly lives in this world” [Titus 2: 11-12]. Notice that Paul says that grace comes with a few catches.

Give up ungodly living.

Live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.

There is no doubt that God has made us righteous through the offer of His Son Jesus Christ, but He has offered even more than that. He has offered us power to live holier lives. Maybe today we just don’t see grace as a means to help us continue our pursuit of God. Grace is used as an excuse for our weakness; that is the “good new days” interpretation, the partial message of Genesis: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.”

Bevere ends Chapter 10 with these words: “Let’s never stop teaching we can’t earn God’s favor, forgiveness or salvation. Let’s keep shouting that good news. However, let’s quit underselling His grace. Let’s proclaim its entire truth.”

Let’s not be satisfied with the “good.”

Let’s go for God! Let’s tap into the power of grace for better Christian living…

The premise of John Bevere’s book Good or God? is that instead of attempting to seek a higher standard of Christian living, we are often satisfied with less. Instead of seeking God, we are content to just be happy with good. At times, it may sound like he is being “holier than thou” if you know what I mean, but it is probably best to keep in mind that he is merely trying to point out that there is more for us to experience in our lives if we just hold ourselves to a more Godly standard.

Today, he pinpoints three areas of life that many struggle with; anger control, stealing and foul language, three areas of life where we accept the good and don’t try to seek God.

I check out the news three or four times a day. I usually go to a news feed that is generated by a browser. Some of you may do this also. When I read news items, I wonder about the words that headline the reporting. In today’s news feed, the headline is that some political figure goes on television and “owns” another politician. A celebrity is upset about some aspect of their life and they “slam” another person. A well-known person is having a difficult time and “everyone is hating them.” Another individual is “flipping out” about something going wrong in their world. You read the story and sure enough, people are using angry, hateful language. Unfiltered is a popular word today. Instead of stopping and assessing language, too many of us use angry language that causes anger in others.

Paul writes “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, [and] harsh words” [Ephesians 4:31]. James commands “You must all be…slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires”[James 1:19-20]. Paul is even more direct when he says in Colossians “Get rid of anger [and] rage” [3:8].

Why do we excuse angry outbursts when it is clear they are counterproductive for our lives as Christians and so negative for the lives of others? I can only theorize that it is the human need for attention, the anger catches the attention of others and draws attention to us. We need that attention.

What we don’t need is to lower our standards and accept a life that is less than we can have.

Another example is stealing. Of course “thou shalt not steal” is a Biblical imperative from Exodus that Jewish, Catholic and Protestant theologians have always accepted, but Bevere says Christians are stealing today and finding a way to justify it. We borrow money and don’t pay it back, knowing that we can always declare bankruptcy if we have to. We use our company’s resources for our own personal use, declaring “I am a Christian saved by the grace of God.” People can cheat on their tax returns, thinking nothing of not reporting some of their income. Romans 13:5 says “Pay your taxes.” That is pretty clear. We find ways of justifying our actions by pointing to the public actions of others. Many high profile people seem to steal and think nothing of it. Their standard is lowered, so maybe we can lower ours.

Lastly, the use of foul language is becoming so common. I am not a hard core television fan but when I hear language on television I am amazed at how far we have come in so short a span of time and I don’t mean this in a positive way. If foul language on television is an indicator of how much we are seeking God, it seems we are not. Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth.” Every television season seems to usher in more shocking language. It is impossible not to encounter this. We don’t live in a bubble. I once heard an expression that when a bad word or a bad thought enters your consciousness, don’t let it stay. When a bird flies over your head [a bad word or bad thought] let it fly over; don’t let it roost. When it roosts, it becomes a part of your life. It works its way into everyday conversation, stories you tell others and jokes you share.

Bevere even takes his own occupation to task. He recounts the story “Recently I sat at dinner with a young couple who oversee a great church. They admire and look up to a certain global ministry. They were given the opportunity to have dinner with one of the organization’s renowned leaders. During the course of the meal, he used hardcore profanity several times” [Bevere, 151].

Some may feel this post may be picky; “holier than thou” is a term I used earlier. Maybe my comments are like the congregant who said of the pastor, “He has gone from preaching to meddling.”

But maybe the attitude should be that anger, stealing and foul language are just like the canary in the coal mine, signs that life is not what it should be. Things are getting dangerous because we have lowered our standards.

We think we are good but really we are not.

We are living by the standards of our world.

We should be seeking God but anger, stealing and foul language are keeping us from His presence.

Stop telling lies…

One of the most fascinating aspects of my communication study over the years has been the idea of perception. Perception is essentially a person’s point of view, how they take in information about their world. A lot goes into that point of view. It is how we interpret the world according to our sensory organs, our past experiences, and the context of the perception. The list can go on and on with factors that affect perception. The bottom line is none of us experience the world the same way.

One can make a case that we really don’t lie. We just report to others our unique perceptions. A simple illustration is two pedestrians seeing an auto accident as it occurs at an intersection. One pedestrian is an auto body repair person. When the accident occurs, this person sees the extent of the damage and immediately begins to assess the cost. Maybe they don’t even pay attention to the drivers. The other pedestrian is a pet person. They see a small cat that one driver has tried to dodge. That cat caused one driver to wreck but that is not their utmost concern. They are pet lovers and their heart goes out to the kitty and they look to see if it is ok. Police come onto the scene and question both pedestrians about the accident. What were the circumstances of the car movement? What about driver behavior? Truthfully, the auto body person can only comment on the cost of the damage. That person was not paying attention to the circumstances of the cars or drivers at all. Of course the pet lover did not even attend much at all to the wreck. They were really concentrating on the kitty cat.

When they respond to the questions of the police, are they lying or are they merely reporting their perceptions? Does each person have a different set of facts?

Truly we don’t all see the world the same way. Individuals can have different points of view, “alternative facts” if you will, but this is not really what James is talking about in James 3:14: “Don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.” It is not what Paul is saying in Colossians 3:9 when he says “Don’t lie to each other.” These are New Testament “commands” to tell the truth. These are New Testament commands to not lie.

Lying is making up “facts” or telling people something that you know is untrue. This is not the gray area caused by your unique perception. It is speaking words to others to create a reality that is false.

Pastor Bevere in his book “Good or God?” states that contemporary ethics seems to allow for lying behavior. The idea today is that if lying leads to a desired end, then it is ok. He states lying occurs “in government, education, ministry and medicine and among family members and friends. We lie to save face, protect our reputations, propel ourselves to a desire position or expedite a desired end.”

Besides breaking the well-known Old Testament commandment, why is it still mentioned in the New Testament, a portion of the Bible that emphasizes grace? Doesn’t grace “cover” lying. The short answer is no. In this conception, grace becomes a tool to rid a liar of guilt. Maybe what the New Testament writers like James and Paul realized is that Christians can abuse grace when it comes to telling the truth. If we emphasize that we are serving the “greater good,” maybe lying can be justified and what the heck, grace will cover my sin anyhow.

The whole premise of Pastor Bevere’s book is based on getting us to understand that grace exists to empower us to a holier life, a closer relationship with God. Using grace to cover lying is definitely not part of his message.

Bevere also says that lying may just be people trying to speed up the process of getting something done instead of waiting for God to provide. We all know we live in a world that is filled with very impatient people.

More importantly, if lying is accepted as ok, what does this do to us when we are seeking the promise of His presence? I know Psalms is from the Old Testament but what does Psalm 15: 1, 4 mean when it says “Who may enter your [God’s] presence?…[those who] Keep your word even when it costs you.”

The whole book Good or God? is about the need for Christians to choose holiness over goodness. When a person lies it is a sin according to the Old Testament.

It is a sin in the New as well.

“Keep your word even when it costs you.”

Words to live by if you seek to live a holy life…

Let me pose what we call a “no brainer” to you. You know, one of those questions where you don’t have to think about your response. It would just be yes, a flat out yes.

In John 1:16, Pastor Bevere pinpoints a key verse that he uses to build his case and eventually to ask us his “no brainer.” The verse goes “Of His fullness, we have all received, and grace for grace.” In the original Greek, this verse means the “overflow, or abundance, of what grace does for us is it gives us the fullness of Jesus Christ.”

Then Bevere asks if you had a chance to be experience the fullness of Jesus Christ, would you take it?

A no brainer…

As I wrote in my previous post, Bevere is building on the idea of grace as more than a free gift, salvation, or forgiveness of sins. It is a source of empowerment. Grace as a gift, salvation and forgiveness is wonderful but what is Bevere is right? What if grace is more than that?

Most of us have heard of preachers who have said things like “We are no better than sinners, we’re just forgiven” or maybe this: “We are just unworthy worms.” One of my favorites is “We are humans with a sin nature and bound to it.” These statements are humbling and they may be designed to get us to feel dependent on The Lord for our failings but what if we can move beyond our failings? What if we can tap into a power that allows us to grow as Christians at the next level?

Bevere is not like one of “those preachers” in the previous paragraph. He points to Ephesians 5:30 where we are reminded that we are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. He prefers to focus on the statement “Beloved, now we are children of God” [1 John 3:2]. This is empowerment now, not later in heaven. Second Peter 1: 2-3 states “May God give you more and more grace…by His divine power [grace] God has given us everything we need for living a holy life.”

I like to highlight “more and more grace” because I need more and more and when it comes to empowerment, don’t you need more and more also? I don’t want to stay the man I am today; I want to live a better life, a more effective life for Christ. In an earlier post, I cited James 4: 4, 6 when he says “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?…But He gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires…so humble yourself before God.” The key words are “even more grace”.

I have spent so many years trying to move beyond my sins. I thought I had the ability to do it on my own. Bevere cites Eliab, David oldest brother who faced Goliath in his own strength. Then we see the humble shepherd boy David who confronted the giant in God’s strength and everyone know that outcome.

Bevere cites Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane who was in the biggest fight of his life. His flesh wanted out of what His father commanded. Who would want to face what he was about to face? Yet in his humility, he cried out for His Father’s grace to get him through the fight. The disciples failed to even stay awake but Jesus did not fail. His spirit was strong and his body was strong: God strong.

Think about life and the struggles you have. Mine are evident to me. I really want to cast them off. I know the peace that can happen when God gives me the strength to make better choices. I know that sin is a prison and I am the one that walks right into my prison cell. I am weak but my God is strong. I don’t have what it takes for victory but He does. He offers it to me and He offers it to you.

It is not in my strength; it is in my weakness, my humble weakness…that is when God works His miracles.

It is counter-intuitive.

Certainly if it counter-cultural…

But when I am weak, My God is strong…

When I am weak, I feel the power of His grace the most…more and more grace.

We have been through nine chapters in John Bevere’s book and he has written about the state of Christianity today; his opinion is that Christians are content to pursue goodness and not holiness. He has stated that good is not good enough; we should want more.

He titles Chapter 10 “The Fuel” which makes me think that he is going to say something profound in this chapter and in my humble opinion he does.

It all begins with the idea of grace. If you are Christian, that is a term that means something. But if you are like me, it means that we try and try to live a sinless life and we fail over and over again. But Bevere writes “But then came grace. We couldn’t earn it by good behavior and still can’t. We didn’t deserve it and still don’t. God’s gift completely forgives us and will continue when we fall short” [Bevere, 138].

God asked the Israelites to live a sinless life and the Old Testament is a record of their failure. Jesus and the gift of grace was the New Testament and it solved our problem with sin, or so it seems. I don’t know about you but at times in my life, I felt that grace was a “get out of jail free-card”, you know that wonderful card that comes in handy in the Monopoly game. We don’t have to worry about sin because it is there to save us. God knows we are human.

But isn’t there more to life than the live life, sin, ask forgiveness, repent, grace cycle? Isn’t there more?

Bevere keeps talking about the idea that holiness is the pathway to the presence of Jesus. C.S. Lewis writes “Be ye perfect is not…a command to do the impossible. [God] is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command.”

And it is through that common Christian idea of grace.

Bevere cites a 2009 study of Christians where thousands were asked what grace meant to them. Ninety-eight percent of them said “salvation”, “unmerited gift” or “forgiveness of sins.” It is good that such a high percentage know what grace means but Bevere points out that only two percent know that grace can mean empowerment. We are talking the kind of grace in 2nd Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is all you need, for my power works best in your weakness.” We think of weakness as inability. But think about it; if ninety-eight percent of Christians don’t realize that grace means empowerment, they are attempting to live a holy life on their own efforts. Believe me that the live life, sin, ask forgiveness, repent, grace cycle can be very discouraging. For many it leads to frustration and defeat. Who wants to repeat the same bad behavior?

Let’s drill down on what Paul is saying with “my power works best in your weakness.” Writing about the churches of Macedonia, Paul says the grace of God was bestowed on those churches “that according to their ability, yes and beyond their ability.” That is what this concept of grace means. With this, we can do more than we ever dreamed we could. God can work through us, through our weakness.

It is not often that I quote a lot of words from an author but Bevere’s ideas about grace bear repeating and they lead so well into my next post: “With what we’ve just learned, let’s expand this understanding further. Salvation is a gift of grace. Forgiveness is a gift of grace. Healing is a gift of grace. Provision is a gift of grace. Receiving God’s nature is a gift of grace. Empowerment is a gift of grace. All of these are manifestations of His favor upon our lives, each underserved and unmerited. In regard to empowerment, grace gives us the ability to go beyond our natural ability. We didn’t have the ability to deliver ourselves from hell, grace did. We shouldn’t live in freedom, but grace enables us. We can’t change our nature; grace did. We don’t have the ability to live holy, but grace enables us.”

What an unexpected place to find fuel for our Christian growth toward holiness…grace.

“The motivation behind sin is selfishness. The man who steals does so for himself. The man who lies does so to protect or benefit himself. The man who commits adultery against his wife considers not his wife and children but his own passion. The man who murders does so for himself. The man who disobeys authority does so because he believes he knows better and wants better for himself. The man who pursues popularity and fame does so to appease his insecurity and pride” [Bevere, 130].

Pastor Bevere pretty much lays the blame for most of the sin in the world on selfishness.

Look at the following Scripture from James and pay attention to the word selfishness in the quote: “Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn’t it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? You want something you don’t have and you will do anything to get it. …But you still cannot get what you want and you won’t get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray for selfish reasons” [from James 3 and 4].

It seems that James regards selfishness as a problem in the world too, wouldn’t you say?

The world is driven by selfishness and so is the believer who is unholy. A person can call themselves “Christian” and be driven to sin due to selfishness. What a person wants becomes a top priority. God calls us to a higher standard but we can easily ignore that call. Paul is an honest man when he says in Romans 7: 15-20 “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

Paul knows what he wants to do. He wants to follow God’s law but he also knows that he falls short and sins. That is what is so good about Paul; he is a writer in the Bible that all of us can relate to. He sins and wishes he did not; he also knows why he sins. It is the fact that he is a man and it is his nature to sin. At least he is not trying to cover up the fact that he is not perfect. Many Christians try to do this, to their own detriment.

Bevere says that the unbeliever is the one who is truly ruled by selfishness. They are enslaved by the appetites of their flesh. They have no Holy Spirit to lead them away from sin any time. They have no ability to live a good life before God. If unbelievers have very strong willpower, they can put on a façade and appear unselfish but make no mistake, they know selfishness intimately: it is the theme of their life.

As Christians, we have something that is helpful due to our relationship with God. We have Jesus Christ. Paul also writes “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the spirit renew your thought and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” [Ephesians 4: 42-24]. We have a chance to overcome our selfish nature from time to time. As Paul admits, we cannot expect to conquer it all the time, but we have a chance to adopt this new inward nature. We can be a new creation in Christ.

We don’t have to submit to our selfish desires 24/7.

We can go a new route.

We have a freedom which comes from Jesus Christ, a freedom to choose.

We can listen to that Holy Spirit, do what it is urging us to do and live a better life.

Indeed, the choice is ours…