The King and His Bride...and the Shepherds: Part One

 

The King and His Bride…and the Shepherds

 

There once was a great and good king who was engaged to be married.

 

When his betrothed was younger, she had been kidnapped by an evil prince, taken to a far-off land, and imprisoned and tormented in an effort to force her to marry the evil prince. However, the great and good king disguised himself, traveled to the far-off land, and after many trials and privations, fought the evil prince and his wicked servants, freeing his beloved betrothed, and bringing her safely back to his Kingdom.

 

Before the wedding date, the good king had to leave on an urgent matter on behalf of his people. Keeping in mind the horror of the kidnapping, he called together a cohort of trusted servants, known as shepherds or pastors, and placed the safety and welfare of his bride-to-be in their hands. The great and good king was confident that these men would faithfully care for his beloved and that he need not be concerned for her well – being.

 

As for the betrothed, as she looked at the kindly faces of the shepherds, she was certain she had nothing to fear and that she could spend her days and nights looking forward to the return of her husband-to-be and preparing herself for that great wedding day and their marriage supper.

 

After the king departed, the first few weeks were quiet and restful. The betrothed enjoyed spending time with her ladies in waiting, gardening, walking in forests and by waterfalls and gently running brooks; and of course she was preparing, always preparing for the return of the king and the much-anticipated wedding day.

 

As for the pastors, at first they were content with fulfilling the king’s charge to them, but the longer the king was gone, the more restless they became.

 

“How long will he be gone? When will he return?” they asked one another.

 

As the weeks became months and as the months multiplied, they asked, “Why hasn’t he returned? Perhaps something happened to him? Maybe he is ill. He could have died of sickness or even been killed in battle.”

 

At one time these pastors spoke of the king and only the king. They talked to the bride-to-be of the king, they talked to the people of the king, they taught the children of the land about the king.

 

Then one day a messenger arrived from an adjacent land. The ruler of that land was giving a ball and was extending an invitation not only to the pastors, but also to the king’s betrothed; he wanted the pastors to bring her with them.

 

Such a thing was unheard of in all the history of the land of the great and good king. From time immemorial kings would only dance with their spouses or their intended spouses, and queens and queens to be would only dance with their husbands or husbands to be. The eyes of kings were only for their queens, and the eyes of queens were only for their kings.

 

The pastors thought, “Even though such a thing is unheard of, the king has been gone far longer than we thought he would be. He may come back, or he may not. The young woman must be bored waiting for him, we certainly are. If the king does return, would he not be pleased to know that we had brightened his betrothed’s life by taking her to a grand ball where she could shine before others? He would certainly appreciate our efforts.”

 

And so it began, for as word spread abroad that the beautiful betrothed of the good and great king was being escorted by the king’s pastors to balls and festivals invitations deluged the royal court. The shepherds convinced the young woman, after prolonged argument with her, that even though such a thing had never happened before in their kingdom, that these were exceptional times and that the king would not only understand, but that he would approve.

 

150 Stories to Live, 150 Parts to Play

 

Today is April 30. This morning I’ve read and pondered Psalms 30 and 60. I did this on January 30 and, the Lord willing, I will do so on July 30 and October 30. If I live through 2027, the Lord willing, I will read Psalm 30 and 60 on those dates as well. Perhaps when I arrive in the glorious City I will ask, “May I please have a Bible and a calendar?” Well, maybe not, but you get my point.

 

My Bible reading rhythm has changed throughout the years, according to my season of life, according to my sense in the Holy Spirit. I realize that we are all different and that what appeals to me may not be comfortable to you – and yet I do think there are attitudes and practices that ought to be common to us all. I am not a believer in doing what I “feel” like doing. I am very much a believer in being led by the Holy Spirit, recognizing that being led by the Holy Spirit includes being taught disciplines and practices and ways of living in Christ Jesus, after all…we are supposed to be disciples, and I don’t think we can separate the words disciple and discipline.

 

Well, as I’ve pointed out, today is April 30. As some of you know, since March 10 Vickie and I have been in challenging waters, waters in which I almost lost my dear wife. While we are no longer in the heart of the storm, we continue to sail in uncharted waters and must pay attention to the skies and the currents – we must be attentive.

 

If you ask me what psalms I read on March 10 I can tell you. If you ask me what psalms I read on March 29 I can tell you that. I don’t need to look at a calendar, for I’ve been reading the same psalms on March 29 for a long, long time.

 

Every psalm is a friend to me, every psalm is a story, every psalm invites me to play a part in it. When I opened my Bible this morning and began Psalm 30, I could say, “Ah, it’s you old friend. Good morning.”

 

As we were exiting the hurricane a few days ago, I realized how the Psalms have been an anchor of my soul in our dear Lord Jesus, keeping me steadfastly “within the veil” (Heb. 6:19). Whether or not I read anything else on a particular day of our testing, I read the Psalms, and in the Psalms I found Jesus, I found comfort, I found hope, I found His Presence coming to me, always coming to me and to my dear wife.

 

There are normally a few balls in the air in my Bible reading, meaning that I am usually reading in a few places, but the Psalms are the constant, always the constant.

 

In Psalms we find the human condition, and we also find our dear Lord Jesus with us in the human condition. In Psalms our condition is transformed into His image, and His Presence envelopes us, enfolds us, sings to us, caresses us, weeps with us, and rejoices with us. We suffer in the Psalms, and we find healing in the Psalms, we experience the Cross and the Resurrection; we know temporary defeat and eternal victory.

 

When our souls are anchored in God’s Word, God’s Word is anchored in our souls.

 

 

 

 

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (9)

 

 

“To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5 – 6).

 

“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5 – 6).

 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

 

What do we “see” when we read these passages?

 

“The result of liberation from sin is that Christ has established a counterkingdom – a kingdom opposed to the influence of the dragon and the beast, the Pharaohs of the narrative…Like the Israelites, the hearers/readers of this book are on a new exodus to a new promised land. Along the way they encounter other Pharaohs (the dragon and the beasts) and are tested with idolatrous distractions in their wilderness sojourn – namely, the temptation to settle down or compromise with Babylon. The plot of Revelation is the story of how the Lamb leads His people out of slavery and exile into the new promised land, the new Jerusalem” (The Revelation of John – A Narrative Commentary, James L. Resseguie, pages 67 – 68, italics mine).

 

If we have learned to read Revelation through the lens of the entire Bible, then what Resseguie writes make sense, we say, “Of course!” However, if we have been seduced by purveyors of teaching on prophecy who make a sermon or book out of every current event and headline, who focus on what the natural eye can see as opposed to the eternals (2 Cor. 4:18), who would have us compromise with the beasts of this world – to the point of teaching us to align ourselves with the kingdoms (or a kingdom) of this world, who would have us believe that some “special” nations are the equivalent of the Kingdom of Christ; if this is the way we see life and the world, then we will not likely “see” what Revelation 1:5 – 6 is about, we will not understand Resseguie.  

 

Since Revelation is a recapitulation of the entire Bible, since its plotline is that of the preceding 65 books, since its focus is Jesus Christ the Lamb, since it is calling us Home to that City which all of our spiritual fathers and mothers have sought (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), it is a tragedy when those to whom it is written do not “see” what they are reading and hearing. It is a double tragedy when those who do not see nor hear, align themselves with the beasts and whores of Revelation, when they insist on not only ignoring God’s call to come out of Babylon, but teach that we should participate in her sins (Rev. 18:4 – 5).

 

Revelation is not only first and foremost the story of the Lamb, Christ our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), it is also the story of His People, but it is not only the story of His People, it is also my story and it is your story. It is the story of our marriages, our families, and our congregations.

 

A question is, of course, “What does my story within this Story look like?” Where am I in this story? Where are my marriage and family in this story? Where is my congregation in this story? Where are my friendships in this story? What does my vocation and education look like within this story? Am I taking the mark of the beast as my way of life so that I may buy and sell and be successful in the eyes of the world, or am I following the Lamb wherever He goes?

 

If we read Revelation chapters 2 and 3 honestly, where do we see ourselves, our families, our congregations? What sin and idolatry and complacency and self-absorption are we practicing and promoting in our lives and churches? How are we justifying our abandonment of the Lamb? Are we wedded to the Lamb or to the world, the dragon, and the beasts?

 

Are we so foolish as to push chapters 13, 17, and 18 (indeed the entire book) into the future, and not “see” that it is true in every generation – and therefore for us it is particularly true?

 

Let me share a little “secret” with you, let me tell you what you can anticipate should you live in the Lamb, follow the Lamb, and speak the truth of the Lamb. You can expect to be persecuted as the saints in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8 – 11) and tested as those in Philadelphia (3:7 – 13). You can look forward to joining that blessed multitude who suffer for the Lamb (7:9 – 17) and who follow Him wherever He goes (14:1 – 5). Why you may even have such a testimony that when the world thinks it has silenced you that it will throw a party (11:10)!

 

Such is the Way of those who overcome the dragon and the beast and who come out of Babylon, such is the Way of those who overcome “because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the world of their testimony, not loving their lives even unto death” (12:11).

 

But there is more, so much more, for to those who “go outside the camp, bearing His reproach, knowing that here they have NO lasting city" (Hebrews 13:13 – 14) the glorious New Jerusalem, the Mother of us All in Christ (Galatians 4:26), welcomes them. God Himself will be their God, and they will inherit all things as they see His Face (Revelation chapters 21 – 22; Romans 8:17, 32).

 

O dear friends, those who will know the Light of Lamb today are those who will bask in His Light tomorrow (Rev. 21:23).

 

I cannot emphasize this enough – it is a matter of life and death. We must live in the light of the Lamb and only the Lamb. The Father says again and again and again, “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well – pleased; hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5).

 

Elijah did not die for us, Moses did not die for us (Matthew 17:4) your favorite preacher did not die for us, a venerable historical figure did not die for us, an entertaining teaching on prophecy did not die for us, a doctrine of “your best life now” did not die for us – and for sure no political or social figure died for us, nor did a nation or political movement purchase our salvation nor does it have a right to claim our souls – Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone deserves and demands our allegiance, our hearts our minds our souls our very bodies – and we are called to live in His Light and only His Light.

 

O dear friends, let us recall that Satan and his angels manifest themselves as agents of light (2 Corinthians 11:13 – 15). Our Christianity is entertaining us at the cost of our souls, it is leading us away from the Cross and the Ark, we are throwing a party as a prelude to our own death…unless we are following the Lamb!

 

Well, I guess we have two possible parties we can choose from. We can either join the party of the world and a professing church that rejects the Way of the Cross, or we can have such a passionate testimony for Jesus that when we die or are silenced – that the world will throw a party (Rev. 11:10) - but we will join the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).

 

Which will it be?

 

Which will it be pastor? Which will it be husband and wife? Which will it be parent? Which will it be elder and deacon? Which will it be…you who claim to follow Jesus?

 

Which will it be for me?

 

Which will it be for you?

 

 

 

The War Prayer - Part II

 

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside – which the startled minister did – and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

 

"I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import – that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of – except he pause and think.

 

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two – one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this – keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

 

"You have heard your servant's prayer – the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it – that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

 

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause)

 

"Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."

 

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

The War Prayer Part I

  

As I witness many professing Christians and their so-called leaders buying into, and propagating, the Imperial Cult, I am encouraged by Pope Leo – who seems to remember that he serves Christ and not man, that he serves an everlasting Kingdom and not one built on historical myth.

 

“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” Pope Leo.

 

I am also reminded of our nation’s past, when religion was a tool to subjugate others (giving us precedent I suppose) – for the Cult has always been with us and will be with us until our dear Lord Jesus returns. In particular I am thinking of our subjugation of the Philippines in the wake of the Spanish – American War, a war which we sold as a war of liberation, but which turned out to be – for the Philippines – a war of conquest. Few Americans know that about 100,000 Filipinos perished as a result of our refusal to grant them independence (they fought us as we fought the British – ours was a rebellion, theirs was a defense of their land), what was good for us in 1775 did not apply to them; how foolish of them to think so. Sadly, many American religious leaders bought into the Imperial Cult…as they always seem to do. There were even congressional hearings over our treatment of Filipinos, including what can only be described as massacres and treachery.

 

Our religious hypocrisy included viewing our conquest as a means of evangelization – where have we seen that before in history?

 

It seems that Romans 3:23 applies to everyone but us and our Imperial Cult – we get a pass, we always get a pass. One day we will have no pass, one Day we will stand before Christ, and those pastors who have sold their people an Imperial lie will be held accountable, those who have knowingly allowed their sheep to drink from toxic wells will stand before the One who charged them to be faithful, those who should have spoken up but didn’t will be asked where their voices where. Ezekiel 33:1 – 9.

 

The War Prayer

By: Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

 

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

 

Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams-visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! – then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation – "God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"

 

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever – merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory.

 

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there, waiting.

 

With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, “Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

to be continued....

 

The Great Falling Away and Our Great Hope (4)

 

 

“Behold, a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry country, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land” (Isaiah 32:1 – 2).

 

This passage reminds us that our calling in Christ is to be a place of refuge for others, a shelter from the storms of life. The Living Water of Christ is to flow from the depths of our being out to those around us (John 7:27 – 39) and we are to bear fruit for the healing of the peoples (Rev. 22:1 – 2). Rather than being overcome by evil, in Christ we overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). We are to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14).

 

We are to love our enemies and pray for those who oppose us, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:43 – 48). Remembering that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” nor are the “weapons of our warfare of the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:4).

 

If we become entangled as participants in the conflicts of the world, if the source of our life is rooted in the agendas of the world, the powers of the world, the values of the world, then we will have little in Christ to share with the people of the world; the water that flows from us will be polluted.

 

We must see ourselves as strangers and pilgrims, as citizens of heaven, resisting the pressure from without and within the professing church to identify with the world system (Hebrews 11:8 – 16; 1 Pt. 2:11). We are called to bring others with us on our journey to the City of Christ, the City of Light, the City where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the only Light and where we are the Temple of God.

 

Are we standing with the Jesus who says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36)?

 

Or have we abandoned Jesus Christ and do we now identify with earthly powers who have deceived us and many of our leaders into prostituting the Bible for their own ends? Have we given ourselves to earthly powers who use Scriptural language (but not the Biblical teaching of Jesus Christ) to utter prayers of hatred and destruction?

 

This does not mean that we ignore the people of the world, on the contrary, it means that we love them and share Jesus with them, it means that we seek to show them the Way of the Lamb, it means that we give our lives for the people of the world just as Jesus gave His life for us…even when we were His enemies (Romans 5:1 – 11). It also means that we are willing to be “considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Rom. 8:36).

 

Wherever we are, we are to be the Presence of Jesus Christ, shelters from the storm, places of refuge, Living Water in a parched land. In Christ, we are to offer peace, hope, love, grace, mercy, and healing. To do this we must abide in the Vine and allow the Vine to live His Life in us and through us (John 15:1 – 5). To do this, we offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1 – 2; John 17:17 – 19).

 

What color is the water which people drink from us? Is it red or blue or purple? Is it green, the color of American money? Is it red, white, and blue?

 

Or is it “clear and bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1)?

 

 

 

 

The Great Falling Away and Our Great Hope (3)

 

 

While on the one hand we cannot deny the darkness around us, darkness must not define us nor mold us in any fashion, for we have a high calling in Jesus Christ to be the Light of the world, calling others out of darkness into Jesus Christ. Yes, we ought to be aware of the inexplicable evil propagating itself, embedding itself in the United States (and the world) and sadly in the professing church, but we should be careful not to be obsessed by it – otherwise it will poison our souls. This can be a challenge, let us not minimize the challenge.

 

I am reminded of Betsy ten Boom, who saw her imprisonment in a concentration camp, with her sister Corrie, as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus to the brutal and hateful guards. Her words to Corrie are woven into my soul, “If they can be taught to hate, then they can be taught to love.”

 

Over the years I have found two passages in Isaiah especially helpful in remembering our calling in Christ, Isaiah 60:1 – 3 and 32:1 – 2. Let’s ponder the first of these now, and we’ll return to the other in our next reflection, the Lord willing.

 

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear to you.”

 

A tsunami of darkness is an opportunity for the Light of Christ to shine upon, within, and through His People. It is an opportunity for us to be who we truly are in Christ, to be beacons for the people of the world, to bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. As the storms of hatred, violence, and deceit beat upon houses build on sand, we offer a refuge to those around us, for our lives on built on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus says that we are to “prove faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). We learn to overcome Satan, “the great dragon” (Rev. 12:9), “by the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of our testimony, not loving our lives even unto death” (Rev. 12:11).

 

We maintain the testimony of Jesus Christ, not the message of the Imperial Cult in the image of Revelation chapters 17 and 18, not the message of a promiscuous religious system which foolishly thinks it can partner with the Beast (Rev. 17:16); our hearts and minds and souls belong to Jesus and only to Jesus and we follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:1 – 5).

 

Let us recall what Paul wrote to Timothy in the midst of a hostile culture, a culture of violence and idolatry:

 

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24 – 26).

 

Titus is charged by Paul with teaching his people “to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men” (Titus 3:2).

 

To the Philippians Paul writes, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men” (Phil. 4:5).

 

Is it not strange, very strange, that so many pastors and “Christian” leaders are selling their people into the hands of those who propagate violence, fear, intimidation, and war?

 

What kind of shepherd allows his (or her) flock to drink from a polluted well? From a river of toxins? What shall we say of shepherds who lead their flocks to feeding and water troughs of death?

 

All the more reason to remember who we are in Christ, and who He is in us. All the more reason to encourage one another in the Narrow Way which is Jesus. All the more reason to live lives separated unto God for the sake of others. All the more reason to lay down our lives for others (John 15:12 – 13; 1 John 3:16).

 

The creation is groaning and travailing for the unveiling of the sons and daughters of the Living God, knowing that as we come into our inheritance in Christ, that it will be set free from the bondage of death and corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:12 – 25).

 

This is not a time to be fearful, but to rejoice. This is not a time to withdraw from others, but to touch them, by the grace of God, with the love of Jesus. This is not the time to revert to the weapons and ways of the world, but to overcome as the Lamb has overcome, by laying our lives down for Christ and others.

 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

 

This was written to disciples in the city of Rome. We, in America, need to hear it today.

 

Even though we are as lambs led to the slaughter, we overwhelmingly conquer! (Romans 8:31 – 39). What a high calling and privilege to know Jesus Christ in the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His sufferings! (Phil. 1:10).

 

Let me tell you a little something to keep in mind, those who lose their lives for Jesus Christ are the ones who will find Jesus waiting for them…not sitting…but standing…standing to receive them into His glory! (Acts 7:56).

 

Jesus Christ stands up for those who stand up for Him.

 

Are you hiding, sitting, or standing?

 

 

 

 

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (8)

 

“It [Revelation] is John’s readers’ concrete, day-to-day world seen in heavenly and eschatological perspective. As such its function…is to counter the Roman imperial view of the world, which was the dominant ideological perception of their situation that John’s readers naturally tended to share. Revelation counters that false view of reality by opening the world to divine transcendence.” (The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Richard Bauckham, page 8, italics mine).

 

What is our current “imperial view of the world” in the United States?

 

Are we willing, in Christ, to look in the mirror? Are we willing to consider Babylon of the Bible, of Revelation chapters 17 and 18?

 

Are we willing to take a good look at the beasts of Daniel and Revelation?

 

Are we willing to “see” the world as God sees the world, are we willing to see the world through the images that God gives us in Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation?

 

“Seeing” can be difficult when we are comfortable, as Bauckham writes concerning the churches of Revelation, “Many were affluent and compromising with the oppressive system” (page 15).

 

Many churches today are doing more than compromising with the imperial worldview, they are stridently promoting it and attacking those who question their promiscuity. They are assisting the Imperial Cult in its assimilation of so-called Christianity, they are placing themselves and their people in the service of the very Beast who is attempting to destroy the image of the Lamb on the Cross by turning it into the image of another beast who kills, devours, and destroys. Let us make no mistake, the cult has many forms, and it adopts those forms as a chameleon changes colors – some forms practice overt destruction, other forms are covert – they range across the political, national, economic, social, and theological spectrum – only Jesus, only Jesus, protects us…and we are to follow only Him, the Lamb of God.

 

When the gods of war assimilate the Word of God into their propaganda, when they do just what Satan did with Jesus in the Wilderness by quoting Scripture, if we do not know the Word of God as Jesus did, if we do not know who we are in Christ just as Jesus knew who He was (and is) in the Father, then we will partake of the table of demons and drink their cup (1 Cor. 10:21). Then we will deny the Lord who purchased us.

 

Let us be faithful to the Lamb even unto death, let us overcome by His blood and the Word of our testimony, which is Jesus.

 

How can we deny our dear God, who loved us even when we were His enemies (Rom. 5:1 – 11)? How can we trade our inheritance in Him for an imperial cult?

 

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

 

 

The Great Falling Away And Our Great Hope (2)

 

The great falling away and our great hope (2)

 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

 

“But the wisdom from above [which is Jesus, Col. 2:2-3; 1 Cor. 1:30 -31] is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17 – 18).

 

It is an evil thing when political movements and governments adopt the language of the Bible to propagate their agendas. It is from the abyss of the pit when they ensnare the souls of men in this language, when they deceive those who should know better, when they turn the hearts of those who profess to follow Jesus into their own messengers of hate and destruction. And what can we say when those who are charged with pastoring Christ’s sheep, instead lead them into the darkness of this present evil age?

 

Those who follow the Lamb are not called to kill; they are called to die. We are called, just as the Lamb, to overcome through laying down our lives for others, through offering ourselves to God for the life of others on the altar of the Cross, always the Cross.

 

When we violate this holy Nature which has been placed within us in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we repudiate Him, we reject our Great High Priest, we trample the Cross and our calling, we reject the Way of the Father (which is Jesus Christ) for the poisonous ways of the pit, we exchange the air of the heavenly for the noxious fumes of hell.

 

I suppose there are no words for all this, it is too incredible, but there are the images of Revelation, the images of the unthinkable, the indescribable – these images from hell ought to be worth thousands of warnings. Yet, when we lose our ear to hear the Spirit, we also lose our sight, our center of gravity in Christ, and we can no longer think or see clearly.

 

And no wonder, for not having “received the love of the truth…God sends upon us a deluding influence so that we will believe what is false, so that we may be judged who do not believe the truth but take pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:10 – 12).

 

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21).

 

We think we can, otherwise we would not see the wholesale adoption and endorsement of political, social, national, and military evil by much of the professing church that we see.

 

We, who are called to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29; 12:1 – 2), are now being transformed into the image of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

 

How ironic that the image of gold of Daniel 3 has reappeared in our own time. At least in Daniel 3 there were those who were found faithful. What about today?

 

What about me?

 

What about you?

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (7)

 

 

“John’s work is a prophetic apocalypse in that it communicates a disclosure of a transcendent perspective on this world. It is prophetic in the way it discloses a concrete historical situation…enabling them [the readers] to discern the divine purpose…”

 

“The effect of John’s visions, one might say, is to expand his readers’ world, both spatially (into heaven) and temporally (into the eschatological future), or, to put it another way, to open their world to divine transcendence. It is not that the here-and-now are left behind in an escape into heaven or the eschatological future, but that the here-and-now look quite different when they are opened to transcendence.” (The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Richard Bauckham, Cambridge University Press, pages 7 – 8, italics mine).

 

Paul writes, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal…for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7).

 

Faith is the conviction, the evidence, “of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

 

Noah was warned by God of “things not seen” (Heb. 11:7).

 

The Scriptures, in Christ, teach us to see the invisible.

 

Contrast this way of viewing life with popular “Christian” teaching on the world, the church, and prophecy, with the way the popular church teaches Revelation. Popular Christian teaching focuses on what we can see. It would have us give our hearts to politics, to worldviews, to nationalism, to military power, to economic prosperity. Popular “Christian” teaching would have us view the world in terms of conservatives, liberals, moderates, progressives. This teaching would have us view the world in terms of national borders in place of the Kingdom of God in Christ. It would have us view the church in terms of “bigger is better,” “comfort is better,” “prosperity is better.” 

Popular Chrisitan teaching in America would have us reject the people of nations who have come within our borders, rather than share the Gospel with them, rather than serve them, we will reject them and send them to uncertainty, poverty, homelessness, sickness, and death.

 

Even though Revelation clearly teaches that the Lamb and His followers conquer by dying, popular Christian teaching would have us conquer by missiles, bombs, bullets, civic violence, legal intimidation.

 

O my friends, Revelation promises us a new way, in Christ, of seeing the world as it really is, and frankly seeing the apostate church for what it really is, a Whore riding on the Beast (Revelation 17). It also confronts us with Revelation Chapter 18, who are we really? Can we bear to look in the mirror?

 

Can we hear the cry, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues!” (Rev. 18:4; see also 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1).  

 

 

 

The Great Falling Away and Our Great Hope (1)

 

 

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1 – 2).

 

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant…unloving…without self-control, brutal…reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…Avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3:1 – 5).

 

“Let no man deceive you, for [the Day of the Lord] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…” (2 Thess. 2:3).

 

What does a “falling away” look like? I suppose it has many expressions, many flavors, some perhaps obvious, many – the most dangerous – not easily discerned. I write “not easily discerned,” yet they can be discerned, for it always comes down to the Person of Jesus Christ. Is the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ the message? Are we called to follow Him as He is, consistent with the Scriptures, or are we called to follow images of Him created in our own image?

 

Perhaps I have waited too long to write about this. For sure we are over the tipping point, at least in America we are. We have passed the point of no return, as in Jeremiah’s day. We have rushed past it, bursting through the barriers of morality, compassion, sympathy, and the Gospel, trampling on the good in Christ, the beautiful in Christ, the truth in Christ. While I avoid the terms liberal and conservative and moderate for many good reasons, I will write that these “movements” and ideologies whether political, social, or theological are all destructive and that you and I are called to follow Jesus, and only Jesus. All of these ideologies strip away the image of God within us, the image of God restored within us in Christ, and would make us enemies of one another.

 

Let me share something with you, if a man or woman or young person truly comes to know Jesus, encounters Jesus, and follows Jesus; if a person spends his days and nights with Jesus, that person (let us hope) will only desire Jesus and learn to see all other movements and ideologies as whores seeking to seduce him or her away from Jesus (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3; Ezekiel Chapter 23).

 

Let me tell you something else, those who enter that glorious City, our home, the true and heavenly Jerusalem, which is the Mother of ALL the Faithful (for God only has One People and they are not based on race but found in Christ, the Seed of Abraham; Gal. 3:16; 4:21 – 31) are going to see Jesus and the Father and God is going to overwhelm them in His love and care. They are also going to be overwhelmed in love, with love, for one another – the prayer of Jesus in John 17 will be fully fulfilled in heaven and on earth.

 

And so I ask you, why not live in Jesus now? Why not live in His love now? Why allow ourselves to be seduced and deluded into hatred for others? Why engage in vitriol? Why partake of demonic anger when “righteousness is sown in peace” (James 3:13 – 18)?

 

As Nero and the Imperial Cult lead us into the abyss of hell and death and destruction, why do we not flee to the Ark of Jesus Christ? Why do we not implore those we love to come to Jesus, live in Jesus, live for Jesus?

 

Pastors, let us remember that cowards are the first ones mentioned in Revelation 21:8. Cowards are not those who do not believe the Word of God, they are those who know the Word of God and are afraid to proclaim it, afraid to call their people to Jesus, to live as citizens of heaven. Cowards are those who sell themselves and their people to the Beast, the Whore, and the present evil age. The shepherds of the Good Shepherd lay down their lives, including their economic lives, for the Master’s sheep.

 

Our hope is Jesus and only Jesus, and we are to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). Make no mistake, whatever “movement” we may be in, does not want Jesus and His Cross, for it is offensive, it is foolishness, and it brings to an end ego, pride, and boasting. Jesus and the Cross will have no image but Himself in our hearts and minds and souls.

 

The early Christians were not persecuted so much because they worshipped Jesus, they were persecuted because they would not worship the Emperor alongside Jesus, they would not buy into the Imperial Cult. The same cannot be said of us today.

 

To be continued….

The Shovel and the Sacrifice

 

 

“The day’s work had ended; the tools were being counted, as usual. As the [work] party was about to be dismissed, the Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing. He insisted that someone had stolen it to sell to the Thais. Striding up and down before the men, he ranted and denounced them for their wickedness, and most unforgivable of all their ingratitude to the Emperor. As he raved, he worked himself up into a paranoid fury. Screaming in broken English, he demanded that the guilty one step forward to take his punishment. No one moved; the guard’s rage reached new heights of violence.

 

“All die! All die!” he shrieked.

 

“To show that he meant what he said, he cocked his rifle, put it to his shoulder and looked down the sights, ready to fire at the first man at the end of them.

 

“At that moment the Argyll stepped forward, stood stiffly to attention, and said calmly, ‘I did it.’

 

“The guard unleashed all his whipped-up hate; he kicked the helpless prisoner and beat him with his fists. Still the Argyll stood rigidly to attention, with the blood streaming down his face. His silence goaded the guard to an excess of rage. Seizing his rifle by the barrel, he lifted it high over his head and, with a final howl, brought it down on the skull of the Argyll, who sank limply to the ground and did not move…

 

“The men of the work detail picked up their comrade’s body, shouldered their tools and marched back to camp. When the tools were counted again at the guard-house no shovel was missing.”

 

Ernest Gordon continues with this story about an Aussie private who was caught outside the prison camp trying to get medicine from the Thais for his sick friends, he was sentenced to death.

 

“On the morning of his execution he marched cheerfully between his guards to the parade-ground. The Japanese were out in full force to observe the scene. The Aussie was permitted to have his commanding officer and a chaplain in attendance as witnesses. The party came to a halt. The CO and the chaplain were waved to one side, and the Aussie was left standing alone. Calmly, he surveyed his executioners. He knelt down and drew a small copy of the New Testament from a pocket of his ragged shorts. Unhurriedly, his lips moving but no sound coming from them, he read a passage to himself…

 

“He finished reading, returned the New Testament to his pocket, looked up, and saw the distressed face of his chaplain. He smiled, waved to him, and called out, ‘Cheer up, Padre, it isn’t as bad as all that. I’ll be all right.’

 

“He nodded to his executioner as a sign that he was ready.”

 

From To End All Wars, by Ernest Gordon, pages 101 – 103.

 

What does Good Friday look like in our lives?

 

In our lives as the professing church?

 

John 15:12 – 13; 1 John 3:16; Mark 8:34 – 38.

 

 

 

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (6)

 

 

Johnson makes two other points in the preface of Discipleship on the Edge that I want to highlight, the first is that Revelation is not written in chronological order!

 

“It is important to emphasize at the beginning of our journey through Revelation that this series of windows, this series of visions, does not progress in chronological order. That is, the events depicted in the images are not presented in the order in which they happened historically. They are presented in the order in which John saw them. “Then I saw.” “Then I saw.” “Then I head.” We are not to ask, “What happens next?” but rather “What did John see next?” That’s because what John sees next may not be what happens next” (page 29, bold mine).

 

“Thus, as we make our way through Revelation we find ourselves thinking we are coming to the end, only to start a new series of images that then seem to lead towards the end, only to start yet another series of images” (page 29).

 

Johnson’s observation is not novel; it has long been recognized as a simple matter of fact. However, if we have been conditioned by the historically novel notion of a rapture, of charts purporting to detail world events, of “End Times” hype, of preoccupation with headlines, then not only may Johnson’s point be a shock, it may be irritating and we may want to ignore it rather than explore it. There is a huge difference between looking for Jesus in Revelation and looking to satisfy our curiosity. Satisfying our curiosity is not the same as entering into a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Revelation is not history 101, it is not the future 101, it is Jesus 101. If we are not looking for Jesus, if we are not seeking to be faithful to Him and to one another, if we are not learning to come out of Babylon and stand with Christ Jesus in opposition to the Beast (in all of its forms), then we are in the wrong classroom. If we are not giving up our lives for Jesus and others, not loving our lives “even unto death,” then we are kidding ourselves about our approach to Revelation. Revelation is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ,” if we aren’t seeing Him then we are blinded by a sandstorm of curiosity and self-interest and fast food religion.

 

If we are living in the entire Bible then the idea of Revelation not being chronological is not a big deal, for we see this throughout the Bible. To begin with, the Bible’s arrangement is not chronological, a fact which often confuses people, but which also points up the need for immersion in Scripture. I can read about Adam, Abraham, and Jacob in Genesis, I can also read about them in 1 Chronicles. I can read about King Hezikiah in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and in Isaiah.

 

If I attempt to read Jeremiah thinking it is in chronological order I will be frustrated. In fact, if I try to impose any order in my reading of Jeremiah, I may go mad (as it appears some scholars have done). As J. A. Thompson wrote in his NICOT commentary, “When we come to inquire whether any principles of arrangement can be observed in the book of Jeremiah, we have to admit that any consistent principles escape us” (page 30).

 

“Our uncertainty is increased by the fact that the book of Jeremiah is partly in prose and partly in poetry, these being present in approximately equal proportions. But there is no attempt to keep the prose and the verse separate since both appear side by side in many parts of the book. Nor does any help come from the fact that Jeremiah sometimes speaks for himself in the first person, sometimes in the name of Yahweh in the first person, and is sometimes spoken of in the third person. He refers to the people as “you” or “they” or “she.” The three major blocks of material, poetic sayings, biographical prose, and prose discourses, do not furnish any clue to the arrangement of the book either” (page 31).

 

Someone familiar with Zechariah will likely be at home in Revelation, for in Zechariah as in Revelation the question is, “What does the prophet “see” next?” not “What is the next event in chronological order?”

 

Isaiah has 66 chapters. As with Revelation we see the consummation of the ages again and again and again throughout Isaiah, beginning with Isaiah Chapter 2! Why then do people impose chronological reading on Revelation and not on Isaiah or Zechariah?

 

And note that in Isaiah and Zechariah, we not only move forward and backward in time, but we are also in the heavens before the Throne of God (Isaiah 6, Zechariah 3) – just as in Revelation.

 

We cannot overemphasize that our question in reading Revelation ought to be, “What does John see next?” rather than the popular but misinformed, “What happens next?”

 

Johnson’s second point that I want to highlight is that Revelation is about Jesus coming; coming today and yesterday and tomorrow. Jesus is always coming. How is He coming to me, to you, to us?

 

Johnson writes that the first of the “great unseen realities [of Revelation] is that Jesus is “coming”.” (page 30).

 

1:7 – “Behold, he is coming.”

22:7 – “I am coming quickly.”

22:12 – “I am coming quickly.”

22:20 – “I am coming quickly.”

 

Johnson points out that the message of Revelation is not that Jesus will come, but that He is coming.

 

“The process is happening at this very moment. Jesus Christ is not sitting on the throne passively anticipating some future date when he gets up and moves toward us. He is moving even now. He is coming... Jesus is pressing in on the world, and that pressing generates great upheaval…The invasion of the cities of the world by the City of God cannot but result in great upheaval. Jesus is coming – even now” (pages 30 – 31).

Why do we get crazy about world events and reading the entrails of news when our God has said that He will shake all things in the heavens and on earth so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain (Hebrews 13:25 – 29)? It is as if we’ve never read Daniel Chapter 2 or Psalm 2.

 

Why do we seek to preserve the kingdoms of this world when the Stone cut without hands is bringing them all to an end (Daniel 2)? Why do we align ourselves with systems that are passing away? Why do we practice syncretism in which we meld the Gospel with the philosophies and beastly governments of the present age? (The beastly imagery of governments we see in Revelation and Daniel portray the true nature of the kingdoms of this world).

 

Jesus is coming now. How is He coming into my life? Into your life? Into our life as His Body?

 

We are either living in the City of God or the city of man – a city with many expressions. Ours is not to choose between the cities of man, for they all have one source and they are all in rebellion – they are ALL in rebellion. Ours is to choose to live in the City of God, following the Lamb wherever He goes.

 

Jesus is coming today, right now…are we seeing Him?

 

 

 

The Winds of March

 

Our dear friend Carolyn sent us this note a few days ago. O how I miss Bruce...a friend and dear brother in our Lord Jesus.

Yet, his presence remains with me and I sense his continued encouragement in Christ.

Bob

Dear Bob & Vickie, I shared a poem Bruce wrote with my church family and wanted to share it with both of you also.

 

Spring has arrived and Resurrection Sunday is around the corner!

I wanted to share a poem my Bruce wrote in March 1991.

 

The Winds of March - Bruce Harrison

 

As flora all in blackness lies,

Seeds, roots, bulbs, ‘neath earthen skies,

The universe to them is this

Dormant state of uselessness

For all they know is here within

The dark confines of their skin

Still something woos them from above

Gently rustling songs of love

That irreversibly compel

Them to crack their hardened shells

Then toward the songs of love to thrust

Tender shoots, unheard of trust

When from the grave new life doth spring

And for love aspiring

To hear the wind and all He knows

Of the One to whom they grow

To listen to the wind proclaim

The Worthy, Spotless, Sacred name

And every living creature teach

How the depths of God to reach.

 

I am reminded that everywhere we look, we see the magnificent hand of God!

May you be blessed and encouraged as we approach Resurrection Sunday!

Love, Carolyn

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (37)

 

 

From page 252 through page 257 Bonhoeffer addresses church discipline. This is a challenging section since it is so foreign to our experience, yet the fact that this should not be the case is demonstrated in Bonhoeffer’s use of Scripture throughout the passage. Church discipline is integral to church-community, yet it is so removed from our experience that it is difficult to think about it, talk about it, and pretty much impossible to practice it. Yet, Bonhoeffer considers church discipline so important that this section may be the longest sustained argument he makes in Discipleship.

 

I wrestled with how to approach this section, and I thought about giving it passing acknowledgment and then moving on to the next section. On the one hand it seems futile to explore deeply Bonhoeffer’s (and the Bible’s) teaching on church discipline because the likelihood of us practicing it is remote, on the other hand providing an outline of the section is in keeping with our journey through Part II of Discipleship.

 

As with the rest of Discipleship, there is no substitute for reading and pondering the text for yourself, what I write is not intended to take the place of the text, not with Bonhoeffer, not with the Bible; never, never, never.

 

While Bonhoeffer makes an extended argument for church discipline, grounded in Scripture, it may not seem long enough in that he raises questions that he does not answer. While they may not be questions in his mind, they are questions that most of us will have, we will ask, “Just what does he mean?” Yet, the section is long enough in that it gives us plenty to ponder, and the questions are such that there is likely no closure to them – there will always be facets to discover – after all, we are dealing with God, Scripture, and human experience…a never-ending journey.

 

“For the church-community to live a life worthy of the gospel, it must maintain the practice of church discipline” (page 252). If we keep in mind that this chapter is titled The Saints, then perhaps we will see that Bonhoeffer is saying that to live as saints in Christ, we must live within the visible church-community and that living in this community means that we practice church discipline.

 

Before we move into the text I want to make some observations as to why this subject can be so challenging.

 

A.      We seldom, if ever, see church discipline Biblically practiced. When it is practiced it is typically in a harsh and heartless manner or it is on the other extreme, without backbone and definition. As a rule, we avoid church discipline; it is too uncomfortable and unpleasant and we don’t want to be misunderstood or offend people.

B.      We don’t understand the Nature of the Church. The Church is the Temple of God, the Body of Christ, and God disciplines those He loves. He has given the responsibility of discipline, as Bonhoeffer demonstrates, to the Church – not as a option but as a command. The Church is not a social – service organization, it is not a civic club, its roots are not of the earth but in heaven, we are to live under the authority of Christ and His Word; we are accountable to Christ, to His Word, and to one another.

C.     The Church is to be holy as God is holy. This holiness is holistic, it begins in the depths of the soul and expresses itself in our hearts, minds, and bodies. We are called to holiness because we are called into intimacy with the Holy One, and we are called to His holiness for the blessing and sanctification of one another and the ultimate blessing of the world. We are no more to tolerate sin in our souls than we are to tolerate cancer in our bodies. I do not take offense if my dermatologist removes a cancerous cell from my body, why do I take offense when a brother helps me identify and remove (by God’s grace!) sin from my life?

D.     The Church is not a necessity in our lives. We are consumers, and if one local congregation doesn’t suit us, we will move on to another. If one congregation offends us, we will find one that caters to our desires. Church discipline doesn’t mean much if our relational bonds do not mean everything to us, by that I mean that unless our koinonia is such that the Body of Christ is our life, then it means little if we come under discipline…we will simply move on to another congregation; or we will go it alone.

E.       There is no unity in the professing church. That is, we have multiple franchises, each competing for attendees and members, each seeking greater market share. We ignore Christ’s words about unity in John 17, we think we know better. This means that we will typically receive someone into our fellowship who has been disciplined by another congregation with no questions asked. We will accept professing Christians as immediate members without looking into their backgrounds, without obtaining references from a previous congregation.

I recall interviewing a prospective member at a church (two deacons were with me) and asking her to tell me about not only coming to know Jesus, but about her church background. She said, “No one has ever asked me about this and I’ve belonged to a few churches."

 

I once pastored in an area in which most pastors required premarital counseling prior to officiating at a wedding. This united front was helpful to pastors, churches, and couples; though some couples sought to avoid it. If we were united in our service to Christ and others, we could at least attempt to honor church discipline, teach it, practice it, and cooperate in it.

F.       We don’t care about sin, we don’t name it, we tolerate it, accept it, and at times promote it. We tend to approach sin as a sickness that requires therapy rather than confession and repentance. We don’t dare deal with sin Biblically lest we lose members and alienate those attendees who are considering membership. Pastors can easily lose their jobs by preaching against sin and calling us to obedient discipleship. Sin is old fashioned and unenlightened, it makes us uncomfortable…Jesus wouldn’t want that…would He? (See Revelation chapters 2 – 3).

 

For sure the above raise their own questions; this seems simple, but it can be complex, and it seems complex, but it is also simple. Bonhoeffer insists on church discipline and bases his insistence on the Bible, not on our feelings. I don’t pretend to know all the answers, and as a pastor I have seldom done a good job in this area – the reasons for this are likely many.

 

However, in my friendships I am thankful that I have brothers who I can talk to and who can talk to me; who I can speak the truth to and who will speak the truth to me. Because of my age there are less and less of them (there have never been many), but as long as there is still one then I have the protection of such a relationship.

 

For protection it is. We are protected from ourselves, the world, the flesh, and the devil when we speak the truth to one another, when we do not hide from one another. (Much of what passes for “church” is a grown-up form of “hide and seek,” a game we play much of our lives.) If we must be concerned about what others think, let us hope they will think enough of us, care enough for us, to tell us the truth and to invite us to speak the truth into their own lives. Otherwise, what others think doesn’t matter.

 

We’ll return to Bonhoeffer’s text in our next post in this series, the Lord willing.