I find myself standing in the midst of very complex matters. God and His Word remain in everlasting steadfastness, while the sands of change shift all about me covering and uncovering those
Ozymandian reminders of human attempts to improve on what God has already done. These days are much akin to standing on the beach just within the water’s reach, the sand moves beneath one’s feet. Not much later one find himself ankle deep (or deeper!) in mud, left to fight the suction in pulling away to return to the bedrock.
Considering the gravity of God’s own concern for His own glory, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd commandments weigh heavy throughout scripture. God wants man to live and move and have his being within the confines of who He is: He alone is God, man dare not make up a God to suit himself and God must be accurately represented through man’s dealings (as His vice-regent) to the world through word and work. The apostle Paul develops this theme throughout his letters, instructing his contacts to make with absolute certainty they get their thinking of God correct (Acts 17), the preaching of Jesus correct (2 Corinthians 11:4), and the message of the gospel correct (Galatians1:1-9ff). Misrepresenting God is not at all to be taken lightly.
My darling wife, in her insightful and succinct way, told me plainly of her amazement of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. She saw how Paul had to remain not only steadfast but encouraging as false teachers were seeking to undermine the authority through which he spoke, the message he gave and they received and the matters of biblical living these people had to wrestle with. False teaching is unacceptable.
Consider this: while one may produce an inventory of credentials for this or that motive, one is simply the person he is today, regardless of his experiences or upbringing. One is accountable with Whom he has to do. Heritage, upbringing and education are important features, but in the deepest sense they are irrelevant. Those objective influences lend to the shaping of a person, but the tool most often does not remain attached to the project, as it were. Character is shaped and developed by intellect and conscience; however, conscience is most often ruled out by intellect and individual falls back on his credentials in his search for identity. The apostle Paul has an impressive list of credentials; however, there is a clear demarcation where Paul says, “I stop here, God started there and His work continues.” (Galatians 1:10ff).
This is where one must do a self-exam to discover how much of one’s life has to do with people-pleasing over against God-pleasing. What is your motivation in life, in work, in ministry? Simply put, if we please people more than God, we break the 1st commandment, loving other things more than God who should always have first place. And this is where it gets hard because the world cannot understand this. Yes, we have to work and have relationships with people on multiple levels, but we are never, Never, NEVER to supplant people with God. This breaks the 2nd commandment.
“A fearless disregard of . . . smiles or frowns, character or consequences, opposition or approbation, pay or popularity, will always distinguish the true servant of Christ from self-seeking, men-pleasing ministers.” J.C. Philpot. “
For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel. Our purpose is to please God, not men. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.” 1 Thes. 2:4
A.W. Tozer wrote, “This is one of the marks of our modern time--that many are guilty ofmerely ‘nibbling’ at the truth of the Christian gospel. I wonder if you realize that in many ways the preaching of the Word of God is being pulled down to the level of the ignorant and spiritually obtuse; that we must tell stories and jokes and entertain and amuse in order to have a few people in the audience? We do these things that we may have some reputation and that there may be money in the treasury to meet the church bills . . . . In many churches Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone!”
[i]I confess: I once changed the method of presenting the gospel and perhaps even its message. I did it out of fear, and not trusting God to empower me with His Spirit. I’ve gone almost 11 years without witnessing to a single soul (that I can think of). I’ve been guilty of “lifestyle evangelism” and never once has anyone every approached me to ask what they needed to do to be saved. Unless they knew I was “in ministry” did an individual ever bring up matters of spirituality. I’ve thought more about myself and my time and my circumstances than about integrity of God’s message and those who need to hear it. The fact of the matter is: Man’s condition has never changed and God’s message has never changed (being declared from the beginning). What on earth made me believe that I could make it better? I have my own colossal wreck to step over.
I am reminded of Francis Schaffer giving an illustration of the history of truth. He stood on the seashore and drew a circle, declaring on behalf of a specific period of time, “This is truth”. He then drew another circle beside it, representing another period of time and after crossing out the first one, he declared the second circle to be truth. And so on.
Up until the 19th century (roughly), the gospel was declared in a specific way that has proved to be most effective, holding to biblical roots. Since then a great shift occurred, away from God-centered and Christ-honoring preaching to user-friendly, man-centered meetings. The souls of men have been lost to the gain of their worldly needs. "Contemporary ministry philosophy is infatuated with worldly standards of success. The churches most often judged “successful” are the large, rich megachurches with multimillion-dollar facilities, spas, handball courts, day-care centers, and so on. But not one church in a thousand falls into that category. That means one of two things: most churches are pitiful failures, or the gauge of success in ministry must be something besides material prosperity.”
[ii]What turns the world upside down is the preaching of the gospel, not “grow and divide” marketing strategies. What turns the world upside down is using the law to point out sin and man’s need to repent to God, not recasting the message into palatable forms. Jesus is the corner stone: a stumbling block to some and a crusher on whom he falls to others.
The apostle Paul gives us his background in Galatians not for the purpose of impressing his readers that they may take his word for what he says about the gospel. No, his authority came through Christ Jesus who was raised from the dead. Paul gives us his credentials because he was an enemy of the gospel, doing what pleased men, as he held onto his credentials. But look at this golden nugget:
“
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer [broke the 3rd commandment]
and a persecutor and a violent aggressor [broke the 6th commandment].
Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief [broke the 1st and 2nd commandment];
and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”
[iii] Paul counted all things lost for Christ Jesus.
There is no strength in changing ministry to make it suitable for the ungodly. The Christian has no business taking counsel from the ungodly (Ps. 1) or else the gospel will be changed. I’ve sat in two meetings the last couple of years led by two different people who have absolutely nothing to do with each other and they both said the same thing: give the unbeliever what he wants—don’t talk theology and DON’T share the gospel. Well, we might as well pack it all up and go home then.
What is commonly missed is that “
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Let’s put it another way: God gave the covenant and blessing BEFORE circumcision was enacted. Paul’s ministry to the Jews was offensive because they refused to accept the authority which supplied his message. The Judiazers were putting their trust in their heritage and emphasized the necessity of keeping the law—they preached another gospel. Today’s techniques are constructed to avoid offense and confrontation—preaching another gospel. When I hear those arguments about “we can’t offend anyone,” I ask, “Why not?” The scripture is full of incidents of law to the proud and grace to the humble.
What must one do to be saved? Ask Jesus into your heart? Where did Jesus ever teach this? When did He ever tell anyone they had a God-shaped hole in their heart that only He could fill? He used words like, “repent,” and “you must be born again.”
I know a guy, who after previous confessions of faith and decisions for Christ, has finally repented and asked God by faith to save him and make of him a new creation. He made a number of Christians mad because they believed he was saved already, though he told them plainly that despite his “decisions” and “confessions” he did not believe the God of the Bible and he did not know what sin was. He told me specifically, “I did what my Christian friends told me to do . . . I went to church, but I did not know why I was there or what I was to do. I just did it and went home and had a beer and nothing changed.” People brought him in and, like getting into a jacuzzi, patted him on the back and said, “now doesn’t that feel better?” They never heard him say, “No, it does not.”
A young girl who is deep in Goth has been coming to church off and on for a while. She came regularly at first and was really freaked out at the fellowship and how people related to one another. Someone touched her on the arm in sincerity and she retreated to a dark corner, shivering, because of meaningful touch she had not felt in a very long time (if at all). Recently she began showing up at church again and this time, she had a check in her pocket from her mother. She did not know what it was for, but felt that maybe she had to “pay” someone for attending church; or, since the church always talks about money, was doing her duty by bringing the check.
My first friend has confessed his sin and repented and has come to true faith in Christ Jesus. The girl does not know what sin is . . . yet. Do you think she is making some of the same observations my first friend is . . . unless someone tells her differently?
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[i] Tozer, A.W. I Talk Back to the Devil. Pp. 30-31
[ii]MacArthur, John.
Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1993.
[iii]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update, 1 Ti 1:12. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
