Hysterics, Hell and History

‎”There were days when the Church could club men into obedience by preaching Hell to them, but that day has long passed. The world has outgrown it.”  (John G. Lake)

THE MOVIE

Scared Yet?

On December 28, 1895, the first ever motion picture, The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, saw it’s first public exhibition.  The simple film consists of less than a minute of footage of a train arriving at a station, followed by footage of people exiting the same train.  Really, there’s nothing very dynamic, eye catching or stunning about it.  In fact, today’s media soaked, iPad generation may find themselves dozing off by the end of it’s mere fifty seconds.  Though I’ve seen it several times, it gave me neither chills nor thrills.

According to the story, however, the film’s first screening was anything but a yawn fest.  As legend tells it, the film’s first audience fled from the scene, screaming and fearing that they were about to experience that rare phenomenon, known in the scientific community as “death by train”.  The truth is, they had nothing to fear, but their ignorance concerning motion picture’s led to panic.  Due to the prominence and normalcy of movies and television, such a film would barely even elicit straight faced boredom if shown in a theater today.  It’s amazing the effect that the passage of time can have on our reaction to certain things.

THE MESSAGE

Scared Yet?

Over the years I’ve read hundreds of books on historic revivals, and I have always been struck by how audiences were so gripped by the sound of hell fire and brimstone.  Men would lose their dignity and be down on all fours, groveling like animals in the dust.  The normally prim and proper women would turn into tearful messes, lying prostrate on the floor, seeking forgiveness and peace with God.  Children would shriek and scream in unison together, believing themselves to be tiptoeing on the edge of a sulfuric, Christ-less eternity.

One cannot speak of such scenes without thinking of Johnathan Edwards’ famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.  It is said that during this now famous sermon, men literally grasped the pillars in the church, fearing that the earth would open up and that they would swallowed alive into hell.  The usual shrieks and screams filled the room as mass hysteria and all ‘hell’ broke loose in the minds of Edwards’ listeners.  He painted terrifying images of sinners being weighed down by sin and, under such weight, always tending and being pulled towards hell.  The message highlighted the lack of surety and security that unbelievers have, because, as Edwards puts it, “There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.“ And he adds this little chestnut, ”And that of an angry God.”

As you can imagine, the impressionable, religiously inclined audience’s imaginations were aflame with gut wrenching images, and breathtaking anxiety!  Even the most righteous among them were not safe from the terrible wrath of this angry God!  Yes friends, it certainly appeared as though that train were about to pop out of the screen, and mow them down beneath it’s heavy wheels!  (Insert shrieks and screams here.)

I had often wondered, as a younger man, why such displays never followed my preaching.  To be perfectly honest, in my early days as a preacher, I delivered messages that made Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God look like that syrupy sweet, piano laced moment at the end of an episode of Full House.  I mean, I made Edwards’ hell sound like Chuckie Cheese’s–still rather terrifying, but minus the brimstone.  Seriously.  Yet with all of my eloquent descriptions of eternal torment, I never saw the results that Edwards  saw.

And then one day it struck me, maybe the results that Edwards and historic revivalists saw, weren’t the work of the Holy Spirit!  Now, I know that’s borderline blasphemy, but just hear me out.  Maybe instead of being “conviction”, it was actually just the result of a horrifically graphic message being delivered to an audience who’s minds and imaginations were very sensitive to word pictures and scary imagery!  Perhaps the reason such sermons don’t bear the same fruit today, is because the message being delivered isn’t really the Gospel!  After all, you will never–not once in the whole of scripture–find either Christ, or His apostle’s, going into graphic and gruesome detail on the horrors of hell.  You’ll never find them dressing up in Halloween costumes, putting on graphic and disturbing displays about the horrors of a Christ-less after life and following it up with an altar call.  Sure, you’ll see Christ talk about hell, but it’s never for the purpose of winning over the hurting and the broken.  Contextually, He’s almost always directing His words at men who fancy themselves as being other men’s judges.  Christ had harsh words for those who lusted after His job as judge.  However, to the lost, to the broken and to the hurting, to the prostitute, to the scam artist and to the drunk, Christ had nothing but words of love, comfort and acceptance.

Nowadays, Edwards sermon is read and taught as part of American history.  It’s considered to be one of the most famous sermons preached.  Even the most liberal High Schools contain this  message in their history books.  Now, remember, this disturbing sermon, read by Edwards in a dead pan, monotone voice, had his hearers screaming and holding on to their pews for dear life.  Yet, when is the last time that you’ve heard of a classroom erupting into salvific chaos, as student after student took turns reading Edwards words aloud?

Yeah, me neither.

Could the reason be because it’s not the Gospel, and therefore not a universal, any-era-will-do, message?

Yep, I think so.

John G. Lake put it this way, ‎”There were days when the Church could club men into obedience by preaching Hell to them, but that day has long passed. The world has outgrown it.”

You see, the black and white film The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, would no longer send men and women screaming in panic from a theater, simply because they’ve outgrown it.  It no longer strikes a chord of terror in their hearts, simply because they know that the image is a mere projection of light on a screen.  In the same way, today’s generation no longer wails and weeps at the sound of hell fire and brimstone, simply because most of them see it for what it is  -  a mere projection of fear and anxiety from a preacher’s heart.  Oh, I’m sure a few impressionable souls would squirm in their seats, but unless one has been raised in a religious atmosphere, such preaching no longer packs the punch it once did.  However, the real Gospel of Jesus Christ has no expiration date!  It cannot be “outgrown” or moved past.  The Gospel is a love story, not a ghost story.  What scares one generation might not scare another, but love is universal and undated!

Unbound by time, culture, fashion or innovation, the real Gospel works the same in any era.  It’s always relevant.  We may present it and illustrate it differently, based on the era in which we live, but the story stays the same.  It’s the message of a God who, in His extravagant love for humanity, saved them from the menace of death, destruction and the devil.  It’s a tale of romance and redemption; the story of a Father’s love and sacrifice.  Such themes transcend time, and have the power to melt a 21st century heart as much as they would have a 2nd century heart.

What’s my point?  My point is simple–and yes, even offensively simple:  We are not called to preach hell, we are called to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ!  We’re not called to give men bad news, we’re called to give them Good News!  Many argue that the Good News doesn’t look good until it is seen in the light of the bad news.  To this argument I simply say, I’ve got some good news for you, and I’ve got some bad news for you…ready…here it comes - wrong!  (And yes, that’s both the good and the bad news in one.)   The Good News is good even without a knowledge of the bad.  Men know how miserable and lost they are, they don’t need their faces rubbed in it.  Preach Christ and Him crucified, risen and ascended.  Tell men of a love that sought and continues to seek them.  Tell men of the fire of God’s passion for them, not the fire of His contempt towards them.

Friends, at the end of the day, if our message, like the film described in the opening paragraph, can lose it’s punch with the passage of time, we must rethink whether or not our message truly is the Gospel!  If it’s efficacy is short lived, and native only to certain slots in time, chances are we’ve lost something along the way.  The Gospel is steadfast, relevant at all times and to all people.  If we must continuously “up the ante”, in order to scare people into obedience, we’ve missed it.  This Gospel we’ve been given is the message of reconciliation; the message of a passionate Father who has sought out His wayward sons and daughters, bringing them into His embrace at great cost to Himself.  Let us never lose the simplicity and the beauty of our message.  Hell isn’t the message, Christ is.  And He’s always simple and He’s always beautiful.

True Revival

It’s a strange phenomenon, but so long as a preacher regularly emphasizes the importance of ‘repentance’ and our urgent need to ‘turn from sin’, modern evangelicals will swallow most everything else that he says. It matters not if said individual rarely, if ever, brings up the name of Jesus or the all encompassing power of His finished work, as long as he harps on sin and societal ills, he’s taken in and his message accepted.

As long as the messenger is bold in his denunciation of homosexuals, abortionists, democrats and those who don’t attend prayer meetings, he’s spoken of as having a ‘prophetic voice’ that ‘the church needs to hear’. As long as his articles and writings are on the need for churches to knock off the nonsense, hit their knees and cry out for revival, his message will be accepted, eleven times out of ten. No one ever stops to compare the number of times said minister speaks of revival, holiness, repentance and such versus how many times the work of Christ is mentioned. Typically, Jesus merely gets his name dropped during the opening and closing prayers, and then is quickly whisked backstage so that human effort and desperation, the real stars of the show, can be brought out to perform.

What a tragedy.

The modern church does not worship idols of gold or stone, she worships the gods of human effort and will power. Morality has become our Molech and and behavior our Ba’al, while the person and work of Christ is strangely missing from our messages, meetings and media. Never, and I say again, *NEVER* trust the message of a messenger who seems to be filled with facts on revival history, but lacks any understanding of the Gospel of God’s grace. Avoid like the plague movements that emphasize the power of man’s hunger, thirst and repentance to change God from a nation’s judge to it’s benevolent bless-er. If Christ is not the center and substance of all things taught and wrought, then be sure you are dealing with mere flesh and blood; A nearly-out-of-gas, clanking and sputtering bandwagon, which will soon crash, burn and fall to pieces, taking down and deferring the hopes of everyone who happens to have hopped on board.

I’m tired of a powerless ‘revival’ message which places heavy yokes and burdens on the shoulders of God’s people, providing nothing in return but burnout and disillusionment. It’s time to ascend the stairs to the attic of truth and pull out that dusty, old relic which we’ve long forgotten about–The Gospel! The message of Christ incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended and seated at the Father’s right hand is the *ONLY* message packing enough punch to bring transformation and ‘revival’. You can’t control or manipulate the masses whilst preaching the real Gospel, and so it’s been shelved due to it’s lack of emphasis on man’s effort. But the time has come for all sons and daughters to find their voice, and to proclaim from every corner of the globe, the glad message of God to men through Christ! It is the Gospel alone which is the power of God unto salvation; the message of Jesus, and Jesus alone!

That’s real revival, friends.  A reviving of the one and only message that has the power to destroy darkness, fear, depression and anguish–the message of Christ as man’s substitute and continued incarnate brother.  We must shed our blind devotion to the ideas and ideals born out of colonial revivalism and Western conservatism, and we must instead shamelessly embrace that happy message, for which apostles and alleged apostates shed their blood for–the message of God’s ceaseless grace and love towards us in Christ!  It’s not the message of ‘revival’ or endless lists of ascetic, formulaic gibberish, which, if followed correctly will guarantee an ‘outpouring’ that brings life!  No, friends, the message of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone can bring life!

So accept no substitutes.  Pick Jesus, and only Jesus.  This is real revival

In Jesus,

Jeff

“If you have died with Christ and have escaped from the world’s rudimentary notions, why, as though your life still belonged to the world, do you submit to such precepts as “Do not handle this;” “Do not taste that;” “Do not touch that other thing” — referring to things which are all intended to be used up and perish—in obedience to mere human injunctions and teachings? These rules have indeed an appearance of wisdom where self-imposed worship exists, and an affectation of humility and an ascetic severity. But not one of them is of any value in combating the indulgence of our lower natures. If however you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, enthroned at God’s right hand.” (COLOSSIANS 2:20-23; 3:1, Weymouth)

A Solemn Assembly? (The Call Nashville, 4 Years Later)

7 - 7 - 0 7

Friends, I write today in humility, knowing that what I say may offend, or even anger some of my brothers and sisters in the Lord.  This is not my intent.  I love the Church and all of her various expressions of Christ in her.  If I come across as being sarcastic and/or seem to be belittling the efforts of some very sincere brothers and sisters, I apologize, and can assure you that it is not my intent.

With that being said, let’s look at some important issues…

Today just happens to be July 7, 2011.  Now, that date may not seem to be too significant to you, but it should certainly be significant to anyone who has been involved with the “prayer movement” over the last several years.  You see, four years ago today, well over 80,000 passionate worshippers and intercessors gathered together at Titan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, for theCALL Nashville.  This was to be a massive prayer and fasting gathering, aimed at turning America back to God.  Various high profile ministers and worship leaders graced the stage throughout the day, offering up songs of worship, intense prayers and proclamations that America’s time for revival had finally come.

The event was literally alive with expectancy as well known “prophets” and internationally known speakers had been heavily promoting the event for months.  Prophetic words went out stating that this event would mark the time when America’s “territorial spirit”, whom we were told was Ba’al, would be brought down.  We were also told that the corruption of American youth, which saw a dramatic spike in 1967, would be reversed as we were exiting a 40 year period of wilderness wandering in America.  In addition to all of this, many were prophesying that this gathering and the passing of this significant date, 7-7-07, would serve as the flashpoint for a worldwide increase in signs, wonders and miracles.  Also, we were told that it would mark the beginning of a dramatic shift in the music industry.  A new breed of prophets would rise up, carrying a new sound from heaven that would bring revival and demonstrations of power to the cities and nations of the earth.

To put it plainly, this date and event really seemed to be the answer to all of our problems!

I myself was in attendance at this meeting and saw some amazing things take place.  The worship was intense and sweet.  Many valid points were made, and I must say that I left the gathering feeling deeply affected.

That being said, as the weeks and months unfolded in front of us, amazingly, very few of the prophesied results came into being.  America continued to hobble along in her former state.  Ungodly laws and politicians still seemed to dominate the landscape, and for the most part, there really was no significant change in the spiritual climate of the Church.  What happened?  Did we do something wrong?  Was this yet another case of, “Prophetic words are potential, not promises!  We aren’t seeing the prophesied results because the Church is failing to do her part!”?  Or was it maybe that we only gathered 80,000 + to the stadium, and not the full 100,000?  Certainly something had to have gone wrong somewhere, right?  Because here we are, 4 years later, and the same things that we went to Nashville to see remedied are still very much in existence, and are, in some ways, more pronounced now than they were then!  Who blew it?  Who dropped the ball?

The answer to the question won’t be a shock to most of you, but still, here it is: WE DID!  You read it right folks.  There it is in all caps and bold and italicized font–WE, the Church blew it!  And no, I don’t mean that we blew it in regards to keeping up our end of the bargain and so God changed His mind about America.  What I am saying is that we blew it in believing that gathering together on a special date, in a special location was the answer to America’s problems in the first place!

Again, I’m not saying that nothing significant happened in Nashville on 7-7-07.  I’m sure lives were changed and impacted.  But as a nation, we’re no closer to the Church’s ideal of revival than we were on 7-6-07.  Why is this?  I think the answer is pretty simple:  Solemn assemblies and massive prayer gatherings are not the answer for America’s, or any other nations woes.

The modern concept of the Solemn Assembly is taken directly from Old Testament scripture, the book of Joel in particular:

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
     declare a holy fast,
     call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
     consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
     gather the children,
     those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
     and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
     weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O LORD.
     Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
     a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
     ’Where is their God?”18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people. 

(JOEL 2:15-18)

The passage quoted above has become the flagship scripture for all of the major prayer, fasting and solemn assembly ministries in America.  We are told, as spoken by the prophet, that when things look bleak for a nation, there is only one remedy: gather the people together en mass to pray and fast!  After we’ve fulfilled our part of the bargain, the Lord will look upon us, and if our hearts were sincere enough, our yearnings deep enough and our fasting genuine enough, He’ll change His mind about judging us, and instead show us favor and mercy.  This all seems to fit nicely within the parameters of Joel’s prophecy, right?  Maybe not…

You see, there is one tiny problem with following Joel’s prayer and fasting prescription for nationwide revival.  The whole point of Joel 2:15-17 was to bring us to Joel 2:28-32, which reads thus:

 28 ’And afterward,
     I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
     your old men will dream dreams,
     your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
     I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens
     and on the earth,
     blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
     and the moon to blood
     before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
32 And everyone who calls
     on the name of the LORD will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
     there will be deliverance,
     as the LORD has said,
among the survivors
     whom the LORD calls. 

 Have you noticed the problem yet?  The prayer and fasting prescription was only given to bring us to the above promised outpouring of the Spirit from Heaven!  Still haven’t seen the problem yet?  Fast forward a few centuries to the Day of Pentecost, just 50 days after the ascension of Jesus Christ.  A group of staggering, stumbling, tongue talking, mumbling believers spill out onto the streets of Jerusalem.  Onlookers point and stare, accusing the group of dipping into Grandpa’s cough medicine a wee bit too early in the morning.  Then the Apostle Peter stands up from among the group.  Just a month or so earlier he was a deserter and a coward, but now he stands bold as a lion and declares the following:

15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ”‘In the last days, God says,
     I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
     your young men will see visions,
     your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
     I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
     and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
     and signs on the earth below,
     blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
     and the moon to blood
     before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
     on the name of the Lord will be saved.

(ACTS 2:15-21)

Peter declared by the Holy Spirit, that Joel’s prophecy concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had come to pass.  Now, you must understand, Peter was not saying that they had merely witnessed something similar to Joel’s prophecy coming to pass.  He was stating that once and for all, Joel’s prophecy concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon “all flesh” (simply meaning all nations, Jew and Gentile alike) had come to pass!  The Holy Spirit did not fall on Pentecost, only to evaporate back up into the Heaven’s the day after, needing to be prayed back down if the Church decided that she wanted another “outpouring”.  No, the Holy Spirit came to stay!  Never again would the Holy Spirit “fall from heaven”, or “come down” upon His people.  He had come, and He was not intent on leaving.

Jesus had this to say about the coming of the Holy Spirit:

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.

(JOHN 14:16)

What does this mean?  It means that the Holy Spirit, after Pentecost, will not come and go.  He has come to abide with us forever.  Therefore, Pentecost need not ever be repeated.  He has come!  Furthermore, Peter declares that the Holy Spirit has been “…sent from Heaven…” (1 PETER 1:12)  He does not state that He is being sent, or that He will need to be sent afresh each and every time we need revival.  No, the Apostle states that the Spirit has come, and He’s come to abide forever.

Therefore, if Joel’s prophecy concerning the Spirit’s coming has already been fulfilled and doesn’t need to be repeated, Joel 2:15-17, the verses dealing with preceding solemn assembly, have become obsolete.  ”WHAT!”, some might say, “The scriptures becoming obsolete? That’s total and complete heresy!”  Well, the writer of the book of Hebrews declares that the whole of the Law of Moses has become obsolete (HEB 8:13).  We have no problem with omitting portions of Old Testament scripture that deal with dietary laws, the upkeep of facial hair or the proper way to dispose of human waste.  We do, however, tend to get nervous when we’re told that key ingredients in our Charismatic folklore are actually obsolete in Jesus Christ.  This is the case with Joel 2:15-17.  Unless we are expecting the Holy Spirit to be sent to the earth afresh, we need not recreate the Joel 2:15-17 scenario.  If we claim that we do in fact need another Pentecost, that we do not in fact have the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we make both Christ and Peter out to be liars.

Friends, the idea that we are lacking in the Holy Spirit’s power and can somehow coax Him in to coming closer to us, or that we can somehow impress God with our fasting and repentance so that He will give us a double shot of the Holy Ghost, is not only foreign to the New Covenant, but is also an offense to the finished work of the Cross.  Nowhere in the epistles or in the record of the early church’s life in the book of Acts do we read of solemn assemblies being held in order to bring revival after Pentecost.  In fact, we never again see believers having to tarry, wait or pray for the Holy Spirit.  It was always given instantly at the laying on of the Apostles’s or a believer’s hands.  You and I have been given the fullness of the Spirit through Christ.  We need not starve ourselves in the baking sun in order to get Him to come to us.  He’s already with us!

Now, is there anything wrong with gathering together for mass prayer and worship?  Certainly not.  However, we must never put our faith in a gathering on a magical date or at a special location.  Our faith must be rooted firmly in the finished works of Jesus Christ.  It was His request to the Father that earned us the gift of the Holy Spirit, not our actions, fasting, prayers or travail (JOHN 14:16).  It is Christ and Christ alone.  Watchman Nee once said, “The basis upon which we receive…the Holy Spirit is not our praying and fasting and waiting, but the exaltation of Christ…”.

Friends, we need not frantically try to squeeze through small windows of time, just hoping that we pray or do enough in this magical 24 hour window so that God will be impressed.  The Holy Spirit does not need us to pray away the darkness, or plead with Him to come.  He has come (PERIOD)!  To repeat Joel’s prescribed solemn assembly is actually to take a prescription that was written for someone else!  Have you ever taken the wrong prescription?  It could actually kill you if you get the wrong stuff inside of you.  We must be very careful how we read scripture and what we apply to our lives as New Testament believers.

I’ll leave you with this exhortation: YOU ARE REVIVAL!  The fullness of the Godhead now lives and moves within you (COL 2:9-10)!   We need not scream at the sky awaiting the Holy Spirit’s arrival.  He arrived 2,000 years ago, and now simply commissions us to go forth in His power and might.  I have good news for you today, there is no climactic revival coming to America!  It’s already come!  It’s Christ in you…and therefore, it’s you.  Be encouraged, we don’t have to wait around another millenia, waiting for the day when we can line up the 7′s again.  Christ is in you, and this is the day of salvation, this is the year of His favor!  (LK 4:19, 2 COR 6:2)

Filled with the Spirit,

Jeff

Grape Juice and God’s Judgement

Growing up in Church, taking communion was a pretty frightening and unnerving ritual.  ”What’s so ‘unnerving’ about washing down a sticky, newspaper tasting wafer with a shot of Welch’s grape juice?”, you may ask.  Well it wasn’t the experience itself, although for a kid, the enjoyment factor did hinge a lot on who was supplying the wafers that week.  There’s those little, rectangular cracker-esque ones which weren’t so bad.  Then you’d always have a few months of having to swallow down their more circular cousin, what I call the protestant Eucharist.  You know the ones I’m talking about?  The little mini circles with the cross stamped in the middle?  The one’s that have the consistency of paper mache?  Yep, those ones.  For a kid, that little hit of Welch’s was a welcomed sensation in the mouth after having to force one of those fellows down the hatch.

Seriously though, the edibility of the communion elements aside, what was it that unnerved me so about taking communion?  Well, for me it was that lingering thought that I could possibly fall under divine judgement if I “did it wrong”.  You see, in every communion service there is the mandatory ”moment of silence”, in which we are encouraged to examine ourselves, making sure that we are “right with God” before proceeding any further.  We are told, from the scripture of course, that if we “do it wrong”, that is, if we partake of the body and blood of Jesus in an unworthy manner, we could wind up being candidates for a steaming plate of Divine wrath-which could include, but is certainly not limited to sickness, physical weakness and (gulp) death.  You can imagine all of the terrifying images dancing in the minds of church kids during that “moment of silence”.  That’s the Church for you, sucking the fun out of Welch’s since 1869.  Seriously though, from whence come the traditions of a moment of silence, the quicky self exam and the threats of pestilence and woe for “doing communion wrong”?  Well, where most heresies come from of course, the Bible!

Jesus once stated that the traditions of men concerning Biblical truths actually have the ability to render God’s word ineffective.  You heard me right.  Men’s traditional approaches to scripture and theology actually have the capability to, in effect, neuter God’s word and rob it of it’s efficacy.  How so?  Well, we come up with an idea as to what a particular text of scripture is saying, and eventually, after years of propagating said idea, it becomes law.  It becomes settled like concrete in the collective psyche of Christendom that this or that is what a certain passage is saying.  The problem is that alot of the times we are dead wrong in our interpretations.  Why?  Because we interpret scripture with an agenda.  We read into it what we want to see, and as a result, we come up with all sorts of wacky notions and bizarre doctrines.  The biggest issue though, is that we’ve rendered the word of God ineffective.  How?  You see, once we’ve settled upon what a passage means, but have actually misinterpreted the passage, we are unable to see what is actually being said because we are stuck in our traditional understanding.  Suddenly, the true message of the passage is completely lost and almost unrecognizable because of the way we have twisted and misinterpreted it.  And with that, “KAPOW”, God’s word is rendered ineffective in our lives.

Unfortunately, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, which happens to be the most used communion passage in the Bible, is no exception when it comes to our “ineffectualizing” of God’s word. (And yes, I know that’s not a real word.)  First let’s take a look at the most oft quoted portions of this verse, which, to the religiously astute, will be immediately recognizable:

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 

So far, so good.  Let’s keep on reading…

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.  

OK, and that would be where the “unnerving” part comes into play.  It seems pretty obvious doesn’t it?  Paul appears to be stating that when we come together and partake of communion in an improper way, it is possible that death and/or sickness could result.  It seems to be saying that God disciplined the Corinthians, using sickness and death, in order to teach them that they had better get their communion-taking skills right…or else.

However, as we expand our view of the passage, looking at the sentences that sandwich in this most quoted portion, something slightly different comes into view.  Let’s take a look at how Paul opens this particular section of his letter to Corinth:

17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!  

For starters, it’s important to understand that the early churches “communion services” were vastly different from our own.  They didn’t squeeze it in at the end of a Sunday morning service,  nor did they sandwich it in between the praise & worship and the sermon.  For the early Church, the celebration of the Lord’s supper was a very big deal.  A typical meeting in the early Church consisted in what were called love feasts, or simply, the agape.  Jude mentions these celebratory gatherings in verse 12 of his one chapter[ed] epistle.  The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states: “…it is evident that that church observed the practice of meeting together for a common meal before partaking of the Lord’s Supper…”  This “common meal” is what became known as the agape, or, the Love Feast.

To put it simply, the Love Feast was a meal shared by the body of believers prior to their receiving of communion.  It was a joyous event, celebrated in the context of Christ and His work on the Cross.  Now, we can clearly see that this is the event being written about by Paul in his address to the Corinthians.  However, Paul states that he has no praises to heap upon Corinth in regards to their Love Feasts, only condemnation.  Why so harsh there, Paul?  Well, Paul tells us that when they came together for their meal, there were “divisions among them“.  Apparently, all was not well in Corinth.  There were little cliques gathered around different teachers and teachings, and evidently they became rather “clan-ish”, eating their meals with only those who were ”on their side”.  Paul rebukes them for this.

Paul goes on to address the real problem in even plainer speech.  In verses 21 & 22, he reveals what the real problem was:

  ²¹ for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. ²² Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

You see, historically we are told that believers would invite the poor and hungry to their love feasts.  Here, Paul states that the believers in Corinth were so caught up in themselves, that during the meal portion of the Love Feast, people were just rudely “filling their plates” as it were, not giving any thought to those who had not yet eaten.  As a result, Paul tells us that the poor and hungry were left hungry and were, in Paul’s words, being humiliated and despised by the glutonous Corinthians.

Are you seeing what the main problem was?  Everybody was so caught up in there own little social circles that the poor and hungry were being ignored, going away empty handed and empty stomached.  It is directly after these statements that Paul launches into his “you’re doing it wrong” tirade, in which he declares that many in Corinth have become sick, weak and even have died as a result of their behavior in the Love Feast.  So let me ask you this, who was it that was growing weak, getting sick and who were those who were dying?  And why was it happening?  Did God just fly off the handle and decide to whack Himself a few Corinthians because of their irreverence?  Let’s look again at Paul’s words:

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.  

Now pay close attention to the underlined portions of scripture.  Paul states that anyone who eats and drinks of the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body AND the blood of Jesus Christ.  That’s simple enough.  Paul is saying that when we behave this way, shaming the poor and neglecting the needier members of the Church, and proceed to “partake of communion”, we’re sinning against Christ’s sacrifice.  Now, look at what Paul states in verse 29, he says that anyone who eats AND drinks without properly discerning the Lord’s body, eats and drinks condemnation upon himself.  Now first Paul states that we sin against the body and the blood, but later he states that men subject themselves to judgment when they do not properly discern the Lord’s body!  Why the omission of the ‘blood’ the second time around?  Because in this instance, Paul is NOT speaking of the body of Christ represented by the communion bread.  Rather, Paul is speaking here about the ACTUAL body of Christ, which is the Church!

Just one chapter later, in 1 Corinthians 12:27, Pauls states:  ”Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  So, when Paul talks about discerning the Lord’s body in verse 29, he isn’t merely speaking of the communion bread.  He is stating that they have taken part in a religious ritual which is meant to be a participation in the body and blood of Christ, however, the physical body of Christ, which is the Church, was being utterly neglected by these Corinthians.  The poor, hungry member who was passed over during the Love Feast is the Body of Christ which was not properly discerned, not the communion bread!  What was the result of their shenanigans?  Well, many of their members were sick, weak and some had even died!  Does this mean God was hurling lightning bolts at these dirty little gluttons?  Some commentators believe that is what is being spoken.  What seems more likely to me, however, is that the sick, weak members of the Corinthian church were those who were being passed over and not properly cared for.  It was those members of the body who were going “undiscerned”, unfed and unnoticed that were suffering for the cliquish Corinthians lack of love and reverence.

Many commentators also assert that the sickness and death mentioned could have been coming upon the unruly Corinthians simply because of their gluttonous and drunken behavior.  One way or another, it was the Corinthians actions that were brining about the judgment.  They were eating and drinking condemnation upon themselves.  How?  By neglecting and not discerning the true Body of Christ!  The Body which lies not in a wafer, but in the hungry Church member; in the single mother, the widow and the orphan!

Paul ends his address to the Corinthians on this subject with these words:

³³ So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

Now remember, where was the judgment coming from?  The Corinthians were bringing it upon themselves!  How?  By not discerning the true body of Christ, the Church.  So what were Paul’s instructions?  “Hey Corinthians, when you come together for your Love Feasts, and you know that the poor and the hungry will be amongst you, eat at home, so that when you come together, those who have nothing can eat their fill.  In so doing, you will not be bringing death, sickness and weakness upon the needier members of the Body of Christ!” 

Do you see how it works?  Do you see what was really being said?  This is not a scare tactic passage that should cause you to tremble each time that wafer hits your tongue.  Communion should not be a fearful time, but a time in which we celebrate the finished work of the Cross and recognize the person and power of Christ at work in each and every member of the body!  It’s a time to commune with Christ, not just through the elements, but in our relationships with each other.  This is true communion:  Partaking symbolically and spiritually of His death through the elements, but also participating in His life and body by being in loving relationship with the Church.

My point in writing this today was just to put one more little religious myth to bed so that we can get on enjoying the fullness of life that we have in Him.  There are far too many religious myths and old wives tales floating around out there which only serve to keep us terrified of a God who simply wants to share His life and love with us.  Our Greek inspired, Pagan view of the Father has made Him into an entity who can make even grape juice and bad crackers look like instruments of terror.  I pray that this little blog helped you to detox a bit from these poisonous views of our loving Father.

Communing with Christ’s Body,

Jeff

A Tale of Two Grandmothers

I, like most earthlings, once had two Grandmothers.  Both of them lived some distance away from my family and I, and I saw them only during certain times of the year.  My Grandmother on my Father’s side, lived nearly 5 states away, and I saw her much less frequently than my Grandmother on my Mother’s side, who lived only a matter of hours away.  Both are now dead and dearly missed.

Now, the purpose of my writing is not to clue you in on the details of my relationship with my Grandparents.  I want to weave a short parable for you.  Both of my Grandmothers died several years ago now.  I attended both of their funerals, but there was one major difference between them: my Grandmother on my Father’s side was cremated, while my Mother’s mother had a traditional, open casket funeral.  Now, psychologically, this has a certain effect on the human mind.  As a young man, I never beheld my one Grandmothers face as she lay in a casket.  She had been cremated, and her ashes placed within an urn.  In my last memories of her, she is still very much alive and well.  My last memory of my other Grandmother, however, is of her lying lifeless in a coffin.  The reality of her passing could not be denied and is permanently etched into my mind as fact.  My other Grandmother, however, not so much.  In my imagination, I still see her as being very much alive.  Sometimes I even find myself forgetting that she died at all.  Why?  The reality of her passing never quite sank in.  At her funeral, all that I saw to prove it as being true was a jar, and only a jar.  Now, I was told that’s where her remains were placed, I believed, but it just didn’t sink in.  To this very day, I can trick myself into believing that she is still among the living, though just living five states away.  Weird, I know.

There’s something tremendously important about that final viewing.  It somehow seals the deal and makes the passing of that individual seem real.  In the same way, it is tremendously important that we grasp the reality of our own death as well.  ”Our own death?”, you might say, “What exactly are you getting at here?”  What I’m getting at is the fact that Scripture declares that you and I , as believer’s in Jesus Christ, have died.  That’s right, you read it in black and white.  You died.  Colossians 3:3 states, “…you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Romans 6:6 states similarly that, “…our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”  What does this mean exactly?  It means that the moment you believed upon Christ, you were spiritually baptized into the work and person of Jesus Christ.  Romans 6:3 asks and answers the question, “…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”  This is not speaking of water baptism, but of a spiritual immersion into the work of Jesus Christ.  Literally, when Christ died to sin upon Calvary, you died to sin as well.  That is to say that your old, sinful, Adamic nature was once-for-all dealt the death blow through the Christ’s physical death.  2 Corinthians 5:21 states that upon Calvary Christ was “made to be sin”.  Therefore, when He died, sin and the corrupt nature from which it springs, was utterly and completely annihilated, never to rise again.  The Good News?  This means that sin’s batteries have been removed.  The engine has been yanked right out from under your hood.  The plug has been removed from the socket and then severed in two, never to be reassembled again.  To make it plain, the power of sin died.  The old you, the you that enjoyed lusting, being bitter, depressed and unforgiving, that person died completely and totally with Jesus Christ.

This is no flowery metaphor, nor is it a mere “positional” reality, only to be fully realized in the afterlife.  It’s real, true and able to be apprehended right here, right now, in the present tense.  Sin is no longer our identity, and can never again be a source of legitimate enjoyment for us.   Paul asks rhetorically in Romans 6:2, “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  John the Apostle is singing in the same key when he makes the statement: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin…” (1 John 3:9)  The point?  Sin is dead.  He no longer lives inside of me.  My body was once his address, but that day is long past thanks to Christ’s death.  I’m not who I was.  I can no longer enjoy what I once enjoyed.  The struggle which was once so intense is over.  ’Taps’ has been played, the hole’s been dug, and my old self is now six feet under.

“Well, if this is true”, some may ask, “then where is the victory in my life?  I still struggle every day!  Sin seems to be very much alive in me!”  Well my friend, I’m afraid that you, like me, never really went to “Grandma’s” funeral.  We attended a ceremony, heard a religious “truth” which told us that sin was dead, but it wasn’t real to us.  It was mere theological rhetoric.  It was just fluff to fill a sermon with, but it didn’t sink in.  To you, sin is alive, because you only saw the urn, but never gazed upon it’s lifeless, ashen face as it was lowered into the ground.

Most of our battles with sin stem from this very problem.  We’ve never fully come to grips with just how dead our sin is.  We misinterpret whole chapters of the Bible, like Romans 7, because we begin with, and then interpret all that we read, in light of  the false notion that sin is still alive.  We’ve only read of sin’s demise in a very one dimensional, metaphoric sense, but have never actually beheld it’s lifeless body nailed helplessly the cross of Jesus Christ.  But if Christ died, so did sin.  Sin is as dead as Christ’s body was for three days.  When He rose, sin did not rise with Him, but stayed in it’s grave.  The “zombie theology” of western Christendom may tell you that sin periodically resurrects, seeking to eat your brains, but this is nonsense, and is only taught because of scriptural ignorance.

Friends, whether I like it or not, my Grandmother is dead.  Regardless of how alive she still seems to be in my mind, it’s not true.  I can close my eyes, use my imagination and believe as fact that which is fictional, but it has no bearing on reality.  In the same way, we can choose to believe in the folkloric, boogie-man tales of a sinful nature still lurking within, but it doesn’t make it true.  Sin is dead…and his death is permanent.  His power over you is long gone.  So why do you still live as though he lives?  It’s time to attend your own funeral.  It’s time look deeply into Christ’s face upon the Cross and see your own there as well.  It’s time to listen closely to the dramatic, final exit of carbon dioxide from the lungs of deity, and hear sin’s death rattle within.  It’s time to behold Christ’s limp, lifeless body as it is removed from the Cross and realize that if the One who “was made to be sin” died, then sin itself died in Him.  It’s time to realize that your sin is dead.  Period.  No if’s, and’s or but’s.

You see, whether I like it or not, Grandma is no longer with us.  And whether you like it or not, neither is sin.  I’ll leave you with the wise words of Watchman Nee:

“It does not depend on your feelings. If you feel that Christ has died, he has died; and if you do not feel that he has died, he has died. If you feel that you have died, you have died; and if you do not feel that you have died, you have died. These are divine facts. That Christ has died is a fact, that the two thieves have died is a fact, and that you have died is a fact also. Let me tell you, You have died! You are done with! You are ruled out! The self you loathe is on the Cross in Christ. And ‘he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:7) This is the Gospel for Christians. Our crucifixion can never be made effective by will or by effort, but only by accepting what the Lord Jesus did on the Cross.”  

Preach it Mr. Nee, Preach it!

Dead to sin, alive to God,

Jeff

Receive the Gift

"The Intercessory Temper Tantrum"

Her parents could never forget the scene.  As hard as they tried, they could not delete the sights nor the sounds from their minds.  It ranked as one of the most disturbing moments that they had ever experienced in their lives…

For months prior to Christmas, little Dorothy’s parents had been scrimping and saving every penny in order to ensure that their only daughter’s fifth Christmas would be her most memorable.  Every week, beginning in September, a portion of the the weekly income would be placed in the “Christmas fund” by giddy, doting parents, who simply could not wait to lavish little Dorothy with a shower of beautifully wrapped presents.  Being a family with a modest income, it was indeed a sacrifice for them to store away their extra cash for Christmas gifts, but they reasoned that the joy that shone on their little girl’s face would make all of their hard work worth it.

Their excitement grew as the seasons changed and the weather became noticeably cooler.  As Christmas decorations began to appear all over town and the first flakes of snow made their way earthward, the young family could hardly contain their excitement!  They had worked hard, saved their money and could not wait to shower gifts upon their beloved daughter.

Then the big day arrived, Christmas Eve!

Mom and dad had put the finishing touches on the menagerie of gifts and lay each one carefully beneath the beautifully lit tree.  They sat there for a few proud moments, delighting in how far they’d come as a family.  They remembered their first Christmas with their little princess, when they were only able to exchange homemade gifts and cards.  Now, they had been blessed with work and income, and were able to do far more than was ever possible in previous years.  There was a sense of pride and contentment that filled their hearts as they sat there together in the light of the Christmas tree.  “Tomorrow,” they whispered to each other, “tomorrow is going to be a day that she’ll never forget!”

And with that, they made their way to bed for the night.

Early the next morning, little Dorothy was up well before the sun.  She jumped atop her parents bed, dancing and singing in her elfish little voice, “IT’S CHRISTMAS, IT’S CHRISTMAS!  FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA!”  Her parents wiped the sleep from their eyes, fumbled in the dark for their robes and slippers and then excitedly made their way to the Christmas tree.  This was the moment they had been anticipating for months!  They had dreamed of little Dorothy, eyes as big as saucers, squealing with glee as she dove into the mountain of paper, plastic and China-made goodness.  Their hearts fluttered nervously in their chest as they descended the staircase to the Christmas wonderland below.  Little Dorothy scampered down the stairs before them, her tiny feet pattering lightly against the wood.  And then suddenly, as though she had reached an invisible barrier, Dorothy stopped silently in her tracks.  She stood there, still as glass in the glow of the massive tree.  Her parents watched her from behind.  All movement had ceased.  There was no noise, no songs, so squeals - just stunned silence.  Mom and dad giggled and elbowed each other excitedly, and then dad posed the question, “So, darling, what do you think?“

A mostly awake mom fumbled with the video camera, and managed to get it on and operational just in time to hear little Dorothy’s response to her Father’s question…a response which both shocked and perplexed her parents.  A bone-chilling, goose-bump inducing scream shot from her mouth like a cold, razor sharp icicle!  Mom and dad froze as they beheld little Dorothy falling to her knees, rocking back and forth with violence.  Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she began pounding the floor with her tiny fists.  “PRESENTS!”, she wailed wildly, “I WANT PRESENTS MOMMY AND DADDY!”.

Her mother and father rushed to her side, assuring her that just inches in front of her lay a massive mound of presents just waiting to be unwrapped.  Little Dorothy seemed deaf to their words and completely oblivious to the presence of the presents.  Her moaning and wailing continued.  Her breathing became erratic and her parents began to fear for her safety.  Mom and Dad even resorted to personally unwrapping a few of the more eye-catching items in an attempt to calm their daughters nerves and assure her that there were indeed present laying before her.  All to no avail.  The young girl was absolutely inconsolable.

All that Dorothy’s parents could do was stand there, shocked and horrified at their daughter’s behavior.  As parents, they were hurt that their daughter seemed blind to all of the love, care and preparation they had put into this moment.  They didn’t understand why something which was meant to be so enjoyable, was having such a negative effect on their daughter.  They were disturbed, distraught and hurt.  While they never mouthed the words, I’m sure that both mom and dad were thinking the same thing: that all of the money spent on gifts might have been better spent on some counseling for little Dorothy!

Now, let me be honest with you, the above story is completely fictional.  I’ve never actually read of a young child having a complete psychotic break down when faced with dozens of shiny and expensive gifts from “Santa”.  On the contrary, most kids are anything but apprehensive, let alone heartbroken, when free toys and electronics lay just inches before them.  Certainly, if little Dorothy were real, we’d have to concur, along with her parents, that she was either in need of a little more sleep, or a little bit of good old fashioned psychiatric treatment.

Allow me to be honest once more, while the above story is fictional, and while I have never witnessed or heard of such a scene taking place, I have witnessed many a grown adult acting in a way that makes little Dorothy look like the picture perfect example of mental stability!  Where have I witnessed such behavior, you may ask?  Whilst ministering in prisons, and/or mental institutions?  No.  Perhaps while serving at a homeless shelter or when visitng the elderly in a nursing home?  Once again, no.  You may actually be quite surprised by my answer, for if you really want to witness insanity that trumps ”Dorothy’s Christmas breakdown”, you need only visit one of the millions of Spirit-Filled churches which dot the landscape of planet earth.

Now, I’m certainly not making a referrence to the exercise of Spiritual gifts or of supernatural manifestations.  Those I’m 100% good with.  What I am referring to is our continued denial of God’s Presence in our midst, our blindness to New Covenant realities and our intercessory temper tantrums that we feel will bring into being that which already is.  At millions of gatherings, worldwide, some large, some small, the already present reality of all that Christ perfect work has afforded us, is largely being ignored.  Instead, we sing choruses, begging the Holy Spirit to come near us.  We preach and pray, requesting that the Father forgive us of our sins and give us a scrap of bread from Heaven’s banquet table.  We moan, groan and travail, begging God to bring us just one centimeter closer to Himself, and we think that somehow God is pleased with all of this.  We believe that angels must stand awestruck at our devotion and fervency.  The Holy Spirit rubs His hands together in anticipation, waiting for the Father’s instructions to “fall upon us”.

Dear reader, the Father is no more pleased with such behaviour than little Dorothy’s parents were pleased with hers!  Romans 6:20 tells us very plainly, that the eternal life the Father offers us is a gift!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Take a look at one of Webster’s (*not the little guy from the old T.V. show*) definitions for the word gift: something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.

That being said, a gift is not something one can earn, buy or cry their way into receiving.  Gifts are given, and must simply be received.  Now the Bible makes us an incredible promise, that God offers us eternal life, freely, with no compensation - it’s a gift!  Now most would nod their heads up and down, signifying their agreement with that statement.  Any Biblically literate believer understands that salvation and entrance to Heaven are gifts which cannot be earned.  The problem is, that’s not all that “eternal life” entails.  Take a look at the words Jesus utters to His Father on the eve of His crucifixion:

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (JOHN 17:3)

Jesus defines eternal life as not simply being a bus ticket to Heaven, but a lifestyle of being in intimate union with the Godhead.  Eternal life has nothing to do with the quantity of one’s years, but with the quality of one’s existence.  To possess eternal life means that we have entered into a lifestyle that smacks of the eternal; it smells of heaven and of the supernatural.  To possess eternal life is to possess the very life of God Himself.  It is the “abundant life” Jesus promised in John 10:10.  Simply put, eternal life is Eden.  It is men and women living in unfettered familial union with the Trinitarian family.  It is God, inviting men back into the eternal quality of life which we were all originally intended to walk in.  It is this life, and not simply an eternity in Heaven, which God offers us as a free gift.

We have very little problem with salvation being free, but we have a very hard time wrapping our minds around the fact that a life of supernatural abundance is free.  We, much like little Dorothy, have no revelation of the power of our parent’s purchases.  Jesus Christ purchased everything that God ever intended for you to walk in upon the Cross, the tree upon which He was cursed. (GAL 3:13)  The “presents” which lay beneath this “tree” are of such a high quality, that they could only be purchased with the blood of Divinity.  Everything which your soul has ever desired in God, lay available and accesible in light of Calvary’s tree.  Yet we, like little Dorothy, are mostly ignorant of their presence.  And so we hit our knees, pounding the floor, petitioning heaven, begging for things which are already ours!  Such behaviour befuddles the angels, perplexes the saints and grieves the heart of our Heavenly Father.

The writer of Hebrews was addressing a group of individuals who, in addition to believing on Christ for salvation, were also returning to the shadowy system of temple sacrifice in order to receive the forgiveness of sins.  Perhaps they thought that a little extra blood couldn’t hurt anything, right?  Yet the writer addresses their unwillingness to honor Christ’s once for all sacrifice, and refers to their extra religious efforts as being “sin”.

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left…” (HEB 10:26)

The sin being referrenced by the writer here is not adulterey, theft, drug use, or any other such thing that we would define as being “sinful”.  Rather, he is referring to their return to the Mosaic Law’s system of sacrifice for forgiveness, and, in a nutshell, unbelief.  They were no longer resting solely on the power of the Cross, but also upon their own self-efforts and works.  The Bible is clear that Law keeping is not based on faith (GAL 3:12), and that anything which is not of faith, or simple trust in Christ, is sin (ROM 14:23).  Therefore, adding the works of the Law to the simplicity of faith ceases to be faith and becomes sin.  This “sin” is a rejection of the simplicity of faith in Christ alone and a literal rejection of the New Covenant.  According to the writer, it is also most offensive to God.  Look at what the writer states such an action is, in effect, doing:

 ”Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (HEB 10:28-29)

God did not see their behaviour as “holy”, or as “going the extra mile”.  He saw it as an insult to all that He had accomplished in Christ.  Much as little Dorothy’s parent were insulted at the way their daughter had trampled on their kindness, made light of the money they had spent and insulted their generosity, so the Lord is insulted when we ignore the provisions of the New Covenant, and choose to throw “intercessory temper tantrums” instead.

Many believers all over the earth are abstaining from food, screaming at the heavens and exhausting their physical frames, all in an attempt to gain access to that which Christ’s sacrifice has made available.  They sit there, much like Dorothy, in the light of the “tree” (the Cross), and are absolutely oblivious to all of it’s provisions.  We must change our paradigm!  God is not pleased with such behaviour.  He is pleased with faith.  Simple, honest, childlike faith.  Faith that sees a present and rips into it like any other sane child would on Christmas morning!  It’s time that we honored the Cross once more!  Not by screaming and throwing temper tantrums in it’s light, but by agreeing with our Father’s voice that says, “Everything you need is under the tree!”

Friends, I encourage you today to receive the Gift of eternal life!  I’m not just speaking of salvation.  I’m speaking of the eternal, supernatural quality of life that you so desire.  The life marked by revival, signs, wonders, divine encounters–that is eternal life.  It can’t be conjured up through tantrums.  You can’t cry or wail your way into it.  You must simply realize that the answer to all of your desires lay directly in front of you.  You must simply trust in your Father’s goodness, believe upon the Finished Works of Christ, and dive in with reckless abandon.  Your “presents” are not coming, they’ve already arrived.  You’re job is to access them through the simplicity of faith.

“…Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here…” (HEB 9:11)

Dear friends, let us no longer “whine in light of the ‘tree’”, but let us instead “dine in light of the ‘tree’”.  The cross purchased it all.  Do not allow your desire, or your fervency to become an insult to Christ’s works.  Simply believe.  It really is that simple.

Unwrapping His gifts,

Jeff

Dry Places and Deadbeat Dads

Earlier today, while thinking on the ways and nature of God, I came to the following conclusion: If the “image of God” that most Christians worshiped were embodied in an actual human father, he would have been reported to authorities and arrested LONG ago for child abuse and parental neglect!

"Is that You, God?"

The unfortunate reality is that many, if not most, in Christendom have adopted a view of God the Father that stands in absolute contradiction to the New Covenant nature of God.  At best, we view Him as a Father who works far from home, and comes to visit us on the weekends–typically on Sundays from about 10:30-noon.  At worst, we see Him as abusive and as one who periodically abandons us in the name of “teaching us a lesson”–or, the old religious favorite, for the purpose of “building character“.  Certainly a physical human being, who treated his children in the way that we praise God for treating us, would be well deserving of some hard and lonely jail time.

Have you read of the ingenious method of parenting developed by Dr. Gerald Derelict?  As a single father, Gerald realized that he was failing miserably, and decided that it was time to “up the ante” in regards to his parenting skills.  You see, Mr. Derelict was very concerned with ensuring that his children grew up to be healthy and productive members of society.  As a result of this desire, Gerald developed the “abandonment method”.  He had read all of the books on parenting, and had found all of the varying methods to be lacking in efficacy.  The “abandonment method” would be Gerald’s grand “opus”, his earth-shaking contribution to the world of child-rearing.

The method is actually quite simple: in the child’s most vulnerable and formative years, the parent is to abandon the child and leave them to care for themselves. Now, it would be downright cruel to leave the child feeling as though he or she were completely alone, so the parent is required to write a series of letters to leave for their child.  These are meant to serve as reminders that, although mommy and daddy may not be literally present, they are indeed present in some sort of mystical, metaphysical, metaphorical way…whatever that means.  This will prove to be a great comfort to the child while they learn to fend for themselves.  This stage of the “abandonment method” is known as the desert season.  There can be no doubt that this experience will prove to be one of the most glorious experiences in the child’s life.  They will one day sit around a cozy fire with mom and dad, reflecting one those glorious years as children when they were abandonned and left to their own devices.  Mom and dad will warmly smile at  one another, as one by one the children recount their glorious tales of adventure in the land of neglect.  It is expected that most children who are reared under the “abandonment method” will become some of the most productive members of society.  We’re talking doctors, lawyers, heads of state, ambassador’s and nobel-prize winners.  Parent-less-ness will eventually prove to be one of the greatest keys to a child’s success in life!

Now…back to reality.

I’m sure that you didn’t waste even a moment of your time believing that the, “abandonment method” was a real and viable method of parenting.  Of course, an individual who practiced such foolishness would be considered, as the good doctor’s name suggests, derelict in their duties.  If we find this type of behavior to be despicable and damaging in the natural, why on earth do we think that it would be effective in regards to our spiritual life?  The popular notion that God the Father takes us through seasons of spiritual dryness and draught, in an attempt to teach us of His love and character, is absolutely frightening and downright unscriptural.

Statistics show that children abandonned by their parents in their formative years, or in vulnerable stages in their lives, typically do not wind up becoming the envy of their peers.  Now, there are exceptions to every statistic, but on average, children from fatherless homes are more likely to spend time in prison, live in poverty and have very little sense of purpose in their lives.  How is it then, that we think that God the Father would periodically abandon us in the name of perfecting us?  If there is no true change or transformation outside of His presence, how in the world could we be changed into His likeness outside of it?  The truth is, if God truly operated that way, He would be working against the very thing He is aiming at accomplishing.

The scriptures make it clear, Jesus Christ is our propitiation (1 John 2:2).  Put in plain english, the word propitiation simply means, substitute.  This means that on the Cross, Jesus Christ experienced as His reality, everything that belonged to us–namely the pain of our self imposed alienation and separation from God.  After falling in the Garden of Eden, mankind began a centuries long migration away from the face of the Father.  Why?  The overwhelming shame and guilt he carried due to his brokenness deceived him into believing that God was no longer on his side.  In his warped mind, God had ceased to be Father and had instead become judge, jury and executioner.  Man could no longer stand in God’s presence without feeling a profound sense of shame, worthlessness and fear of reprisal.  This feeling was not coming from the outside from God, but rising up from the inside of man’s broken heart.  He now saw God as separate, distant and at odds with himself.  For example, as God the Father came to fellowship with Adam after he had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam runs and hides himself among the trees of the garden (GEN 3:9-10).  A myth emerged from Eden that day, a myth which stated that God could no longer be among men due to their fallen state.  This was a reality which existed only in man’s mind, however, as God continues to stay active and operative among men for many centuries.  It was only in man’s now hostile mind that he was alienated and separated from his Father.  (EPH 4:18, COL 1:21, ROM 8:7)

Though self imposed, this separation felt real to man.  The pain and torment that this self inflicted wound caused was overwhelming, destroying man’s emotions and causing him to run headlong into wickedness and filth.  As an imagined alien, there was no depth to which man would not sink in an effort to numb the pain of separation which he felt.  God had to intervene.  How did He choose to do so?  By becoming one with us.  You see, on the Cross Christ did not simply become a “sacrifice for sins”…he became you and I!  (ROM 6:6)  He became you and I with all of our mythology, baggage and false beliefs about who God is and how He behaves towards us.  He experienced life and relationship to His Father through the lens of our brokenness for those six agonizing hours on the Cross.  This horrifically glorious experienced met it’s climax when Christ, looking at His present sufferings through the lens of our beliefs cries out:  “My God, My God, Why have YOU forsaken Me?”

Up until this moment, when Jesus directly speaks to God, He always addresses Him as “Father”.  Yet in this moment, He simply refers to Him as my “God”.  Think of a child who’s father also happened to be the President of the United States.  Everyone else in the President’s inner circle refers to him as “Mr. President”.  His child, however, has the sole privlege of referring to him as “daddy”!  Jesus looking up at His Father and referring to Him as “My God”, would be akin to the President’s child referring to his “daddy” as “Mr. President”.  In this moment, Jesus is looking at the Father, through our eyes and experiencing our imagined severance from the Father.  Here is Jesus, spiked to a tree in His most desperate and vulnerable moment, feeling as though the Father had literally abandoned Him!  It is in this moment that Jesus hurls that blistering cry heavenward, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

Do you understand, dear reader, that in this moment, Jesus experiences the abandonment which you and I saw ourselves as being partakers of?  The heartbreaking feeling of the Father’s absence was the product of our pain and vain imaginings, and yet Christ stepped right into the midst of it and drank it down to the very last drop!  Bear in mind that when Christ asks, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, He is quoting the prophetic words of David in Psalms 22:1.  If you read through this Psalms, it’s like having a front row seat to the crucifixion, before the practice of crucifixion even existed.  Clearly, David is prophesying about the sufferings of Christ on Calvary, which begin which Christ questioning His Father for seemingly abandoning Him.  Yet, Psalms 22 does not end nearly as dismally as it began.

For the first 21 verses, Christ is experiencing pain, life and God through our fallen eyes. However, in verses 22-24, Christ changes gears and declares the truth concerning His situation:

22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
     the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

The Scripture tells us that Christ, far from being abandoned, was heard by His Father and not hidden from His face.  In verse 22, Christ declares His passion to speak to His brothers of His Father’s true nature.  Hebrews 2:12 clearly tells us that this is a part of Christ present day ministry.  What was the image of the Father that Christ was passionate about declaring to us?  He wanted us to see the Father as the One who never abandoned or hid his face from the broken.  As a Father who never abandons His children in the midst of their sufferings and pain.  Christ’s original question concerning His abandonment was asked from our perspective.  The answer in verse 24, however, comes from His perspective.

My friends, in light of this reality, let me say that it is an audacious and downright offensive thing to claim that God abandons us to “wilderness seasons” or “deserts” in the name of perfecting us!  If Christ stepped into my reality and fully experienced the horror of my own misconceptions of His Father, what on earth am I doing still wallowing in them?  Would it not seem foolish to you and I, to continue making monthly payments on a credit card which has already been paid off?  Would that not make the pay-off seem absolutely absurd?  Would you continue on as an indentured servant if your debts were paid by someone greater?  Would it not be an offense to the one who paid off your debt for you to continue toiling and laboring?

In the same way, I’m afraid that many modern believers feel the need to toil and labor under the weight of sin’s penalties, when all of those penalties have been paid.  Jesus did not become your substitute, only to put you through the same agonizing experiences that He endured.  Would it not be calling His efforts and labors, “not good enough”?  Friend, much pop-theology of the day is based not on an understanding of Christ’s finished work, but on human experiences wrongly interpreted.  God never abandons us, or takes His presence away from us as punishment.  We have this flawed perception that God teaches us maturity by distancing Himself from us, but this is altogether wrong and is the anti-thesis of the Cross of Christ!  God does not go off on a road trip in order to prepare us for ministry!  Nor does He, when we happen to have a bad day, go and hang with those more appreciative of His goodness–while leaving us to boil in our misery.  God is as present with you on your best day as He is on your worst day.  Your confidence in who you are as a Son and who God is as your Father, is what determines your ability to discern His presence!

Some say that while God may not “abandon” us to teach us lessons, He does change the way that He manifests Himself to us, in order to teach us to discern Him in every season.  What good parent would regularly and purposely change their appearance in an attempt to get their children to know them on a deeper level?  Is confusion a good teacher?  Would it be wise for parents to sport a lumberjack-esque beard one day, and a clean shaven, silky smooth, GQ face the next?  Perhaps then they could really up the ante by dying their hair a deep purple, and then the next day shave it into a glowing yellow mow-hawk!  The next step could be for them to speak to their children only through a voice-altering device.  Then they could experiement with contact lenses–they could change their eye color every other day for the rest of their children’s lives.  Then they’ll really mix things up by having plastic surgery in order to make themselves look like Bill Cosby!  At the end of this little exercise, however, their child will become truly mature, and able to recognize their parent in any form that they may choose to manifest themselves!  Because, after all, mommy and daddy are just a little bit mentally unstable and change their personality types nearly everyday!  What a valuable learning experience this will be for the little ones!

Now that sounds absolutely ridiculous, and it should.  But we tend to view God as a Father who regularly pulls these very same stunts, all in an effort to pull us closer to Him.  No doubt, such behavior would confuse and scar a child.  They would never know who to trust, or even know who was who for that matter.  Again, why do we think that God would behave in such a way?  Why do we view a relationship with God as being some sort of morbid game in which we have to learn to see through all of His disguises?  Is God the Father really some bizarre head-case, whose eccentricities we just have to learn to live with?  Absolutely not!  Friend, under the New Covenant, because of Christ’s finished work, intimacy with the Father is not confusing.  It is not something erratic and unstable that changes daily.  It is a steady and sure path that we can walk upon with confidence!

We do not serve a deadbeat dad or an eccentric Father!  We serve a Father who is madly in love with us and Who has made every effort to ensure that we live in unbroken, non-confusing communion with Him.  We really need to come back to a place of divine simplicity in our view of God as our Father.  Jesus Christ dismantled our imagined orphan-hood on the Cross so that we would never have to experience the pain of abandonment again.  Your Father is always with you.  He’s always present.  Never more, never less.  His presence is not like the waves of the ocean that come in only to go out again.  He has come once and for all through the Person of the Holy Spirit and any teaching that describes a God who comes and goes is either false or old covenant in it’s understandings.  Your relationship with the Father is secure, and as a result, so should you be!

Consider the words of Jesus is Matthew 7:9-11:

9 ”Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

What Jesus is telling us is that if common sense would keep an earthly Father from behaving in ridiculous and abusive ways towards his children, how much better off do you think we must be having God as our Father?  If it would land an earthly dad in jail, then what makes us think a heavenly Father would behave in such a way?  Friends, your Dad is a good Dad!  There’s no abuse in His eyes.  No manipulation in His voice.  No violence or pent-up aggression in His hands.  Because of Christ, we are sons of God forever, and God is forever pleased with us in Christ!

Not Abandoned,

Jeff