Nothing “Happy” about Father’s Day?

Are you among those who can’t see the “Happy” in Father’s Day? 

“Maybe it’s not so ‘happy’ for you. Perhaps you’re one of those people who will play the charade of giving a gift, sending a card or making a phone call out of obligation or guilt. Maybe you carry deep wounds from your relationship (or lack thereof) with your father. Perhaps you’ve suffered from the disapproval, rejection, absence or abandonment of your father. Maybe you will try to drum up some positive demeanor toward your dad on Father’s Day even though you really feel nothing at all” (From: “Finding Healing on Father’s Day“ Jim Palmer).

Many today live with a fatherhood deficit or a damaged view of fatherhood. And, yes, this can have a troubling effect on life. But what we learn in Scripture is that spiritual transformation specifically focuses on restoring one’s need for fatherhood in deeply meaningful and intimate ways.

The inner work of the Spirit ministering to our spirit centers on our need for fatherhood. Ponder the powerful implications of these words: “the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” and “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:6).

Greek-speaking Gentile churches in Galatia and Rome continued to address God as “Abba.” But they only used this title for God because Jesus had used it and taught his followers to do so. Little children and others used “Abba” when they addressed their earthly fathers but only Jesus used this term of intimacy to address God. There is no evidence in Jewish literature that Jews addressed God with this term.

The teaching of the Fatherhood of God was unexpectedly elevated by Jesus. Although “Father” was only used 15 times for God in the OT, it was Jesus’ primary term for addressing God and for teaching his followers about their relationship with God. He used it some 65 times in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and over 100 times in the gospel of John.

Rather than allowing ourselves to be consumed with the failures or absence of human fathers, let us turn to the affirming work of the Spirit of God as He ministers to our spirits to bear continual witness (present tense) to our identity as God’s children.

From the spiritual cradle to the physical grave, let the Spirit restore the comforting truth of Fatherhood as “by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” to our Creator and Redeemer.

• “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close” (Psalm 27:10).
• “O Lord you are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64:8)
• “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (I John 3:1). 

Steve Cornell

 

Spiritual transformation and the fatherhood of God

God is our Father

• Psalm 68:5-6 – “A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…”
• Isaiah 64:8 – “O Lord you are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hands.”

Jesus said,

• Matthew 6:4,8 – “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” 
• Matthew 6:26 – “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?” 
• Matthew 7:11 – “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!”
• Matthew 18:14 – “Your Father in heaven is not willing that any one of these little ones should be lost.”

The apostles affirmed God’s Fatherhood 

• II Corinthians 6:18 – “I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
• Ephesians 3:14 - “I fall to my knees and pray to the Father…”
• I John 3:1 - “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

“Abba, Father”

It is notably rare to find God portrayed as a Father in the Old Testament (15 times). This stands out even more when one notices how much Jesus emphasized the Fatherhood of God. “Father” was his primary title for addressing God. He used it some 65 times in the Synoptic Gospels and over 100 times in the gospel of John.

Little children and others used “Abba” when they addressed their earthly fathers but only Jesus used this term of intimacy as a designation for God. There is no evidence in Jewish literature that Jews addressed God with this term.

And “Abba” is still found three times in the New Testament.

1. Mark 14:36 – “‘Abba, Father,’ he cried out, “everything is possible for you…”
2. Romans 8:15-16 – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children”
3. Galatians 4:6 – “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Evidently Greek-speaking Gentile churches in Galatia and Rome continued to address God as Abba. But they only used this title for God because Jesus had used it and taught his followers to do so.

Restored to Fatherhood by the Spirit

The passage in Romans and Galatians offer a deeply significant point for our times by connecting the ministry of the Spirit of God with truth about the Fatherhood of God.

Many today live with a fatherhood deficit or a damaged view of fatherhood. This can have a troubling effect on someone’s life. But what we learn in these Scriptures is that spiritual transformation specifically focuses on restoring one’s need for fatherhood in deep and meaningfully intimate ways.

The inner work of the Spirit with the human spirit centers on our need for fatherhood. Ponder the powerful implications of these words: “the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” and “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Rather than allowing yourself to be consumed with the failures or absence of a human father, turn to the affirming work of the Spirit of God as He ministers to your spirit to bear continual witness (present tense) to your identity as God’s children (from the spiritual cradle to the physical grave). Let the Spirit restore the comforting truth of Fatherhood as “by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”

• “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (I John 3:1)
• “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).
• “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close” (Psalm 27:10).
• Hebrews 12:5-11 - God is treating you as his own children

Thought for earthly fathers:  “A man’s children will be fathered diligently when they are loved in the context of a much greater love.” (Douglas Wilson)

Steve Cornell

Audio message: “Answer the call to Fatherhood”

 

Are you discouraged by disunity?

A church leader commented that they had not had conflict in their Church for years. Another responded, “Sure. No movement; no friction.”

We don’t want our churches to be like the married couple who said that they haven’t fought for years and then admitted that they also haven’t talked to each other for years. 

While Christians are supposed to be distinguished by their love for one another (John 13:34-35), please don’t conclude that  this means they won’t have conflicts.

God’s Spirit within us longs for unity among us, but experiencing such unity will not happen without effort. This is what stands behind the call to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

Some Christians become too easily discouraged by disunity because they hold unrealistic (or even utopian) notions of trouble-free fellowship among those who walk with God.

If you are praying for conflict-free fellowship, God might take you to the only place where this is possible – heaven. Conflict is unavoidable on earth, especially where sinners are joining together to advance God’s kingdom. 

There’s a reason why Jesus prayed for the unity of His disciples before leaving this world (see: John 17:20-23). Jesus placed our unity in the context of our witness to the world when He prayed, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). 

There are many threats to Christian unity but the key to unity in a Church is not the absence of conflict but a shared commitment to pursue reconciliation when conflict occurs (Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15-18).

But we also must have the maturity to understand that sometimes division is necessary. On one occasion, the Apostle Paul actually said, 

“….when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized (I Corinthians 11:18-19).

Most Christians would be surprised to observe how much of our New Testament is written to address issues of conflict, both potential and actual. 

A close look at the early church reveals points of division common to churches throughout history:

• Division over leaders – I Cor. 1:10-17
• Division over social distinctions – I Cor. 11:17-19
• Division over traditions – Acts 10:11-13 w/Gal. 2:11-14; Acts 15:1-2
• Division over economic status – Ja. 2:1-11
• Division over racial distinction – Acts 6:1; Acts 15, Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:15
• Division over material needs – Acts 6:1; I John 3:18
• Division over doctrinal matters – Rom. 16:17; Gal. 3:1, 4:16-20; II Pet. 2:13; Acts 20:28-31
• Division over moral issues – I Cor. 5:1-13; Jude 4; and selfishness – Ja. 4:1-3    
• Division between leaders – Acts 15:36-40
• Division between individuals – Phil 4:2                                                                                                                                                                  

When you combine this list with the repeated emphasis on the need to maintain unity and purity in the church (e.g. Rom. 16:17; I Cor. 1:10; 5:7-13; Eph. 4:3; Phil. 2:3-5; 3:16; I Thess. 5:14-15; II Thess. 3:11-16; Ti. 3:10-11; I Pet. 3:8), it becomes even clearer that churches should expect many threats to unity.

Let us call our churches to recommit to the priority of pursuing reconciliation when conflict occurs by following the two primary New Testament directives for resolving conflicts — Covering in love and Confronting in love  (see: Two Principles For Resolving Conflicts). 

“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other” (Romans 12:10, NLT).  

Other resources for unity in the Church:

• OVERCOME DIVISION WITH CORE VALUES
• RECONCILED RELATIONSHIPS MATTER TO GOD
• FIVE MOTIVATIONS FOR PROTECTING UNITY
• CONFLICT AND UNITY IN THE CHURCH
• JUDGE NOT, LEST YOU BE JUDGED
• UNITY ON DEBATABLE MATTERS

Steve Cornell

 

Five essentials of life with God

The Old Testament book of Proverbs invites the reader to sit in on a conversation between a father and a son. The line, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction…” (1:7), makes matters intensely personal. In Proverbs 1-7, we walk with a father as he prepares his son for life in the real world.

Apparently this young man was raised in a good family. His mother and father were careful to instruct him in the ways of God. Yet, as the son prepares to for life as an adult, the father makes no assumptions about his son’s strength to withstand dangers and temptations.

You won’t hear this father saying, “We raised him right, so he’ll do the right thing!” The father wisely recognized that the allurements of life’s pleasures have subtle and hidden dangers that tempt all of us. So he took one more opportunity to expose the dangers for what they are and to remind his son to adhere to the teaching he had received from his parents.

Some parents hold misguided notions that if they do their parenting “right,” it guarantees their children will turn out “right.” These are the parents who are inordinately surprised when their teenagers do normal teenage stuff. They lament, “We raised him the ‘right’ way, I just don’t understand?”

Parents who say things like this underestimate both the sin nature in their child and the pervasive power of evil in general. They also reveal the possibility of an unhealthy connection between their emotions and their child’s actions. Parenting is not about me or how I look to others but about molding and shaping the life of our children as stewards of God’s rightful ownership. See: 

• You Don’t Own Your Kids
• Five Idols of Parenting

In all that the father has to say to his son, he has one primary concern for him. “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). The father pictures life as an encounter with competing voices clamoring for our devotion. Of all the voices, he implores his son to listen to the voice of wisdom. 

“Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square, at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, at the entrance of the gates of the city, she utters her sayings.” (pr. 1:20-21)

“At the head of the noisy streets”, “at the entrance of the gates in the city”— in the city, wisdom is pictured “shouting”, “raising her voice”, “crying out”, and “uttering her sayings”, or “making her speech.”  Wisdom is not presenting herself in the quiet place of meditation.  She does not call out in the halls of academia.  “. . . the offer of wisdom is to the man in the street, and for the business of living, not to an elite for the pursuit of scholarship” (Derek Kidner, TOTC).

Wisdom “. . . strides from the ‘open squares’ (plazas used as markets) to the boulevards rumbling with the noise of traffic . . . to the several ‘gates’ where open spaces allowed people to assemble for trade or official business.  No behind-the-hand seductive whispering here; wisdom is a public figure, making her claims in the open and calling her disciples boldly to follow her” (David Hubbard, p. 55, Communicators Commentary).

Wisdom’s call and warning is forcefully presented in the language of choice. Wisdom, in essence says, “Decide now concerning your response to me! Make your choice and realize that your choice will deeply affect your life.” 

Wisdom cannot be attained where God is not honored. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).

This God-centerd focus is what distinguishes biblical proverb literature from other ancient proverbs. In Proverbs 3, the father described life with God using five verbs:

1. Trust in the Lord with all your heart (v.5)

2. Acknowledge Him in all your ways (v.6)

3. Fear the Lord (i.e. don’t be wise in your own eyes) (v.7)

4. Honor the Lord with your wealth (v.9)

5. Do not despise the Lord’s discipline (v.11). 

_

Here we have five action points for walking with God describing a relationship — not religion. These are essentials to a life of wisdom because the fear of the Lord is the ongoing prerequisite to a life of wisdom. 

- 

• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

A person who fears the Lord accepts wisdom and instruction; takes advice; trusts in the Lord with all his heart; and acknowledges the Lord in all his dealings. This person does not see himself and his own opinion as basis for what he believes and does.  He recognizes his own inadequacies and God’s superiority.  Therefore he is teachable and accepts counsel.

In contrast, fools despise wisdom and instruction; they scoff at rebuke; the fool’s way seems right to him; he is wise in his own eyes; he does not fear the Lord; and he does not accept advice and counsel unless it agrees with what he already concludes— he thinks he knows better.

The fear of the Lord being “the beginning” of wisdom does not mean it is the first step and after taken you move on to other matters. It is “the beginning” in that it is the primary and controlling factor in the pursuit of wisdom. To profit from proverbs and gain wisdom you must start with an attitude that recognizes God’s superiority, especially over your own opinions.

• Proverbs 10:8 – “The wise in heart accepts commands”
• Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”
• Proverbs 13:10- “Wisdom is found in those who take advice”
• Proverbs 15:5- “A fool spurns his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
• Proverbs 15:31-33- “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”
• Proverbs 18:1- “He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom.”

Steve Cornell

 

Struggle Theology

While reading some feedback on Tim Challies’ post “Desecration and Titillation,” I recalled a quote from a series of messages I gave many years ago. It came from the book, “Flirting with the Devil,” by Bill Pride and has to do with Struggle Theology (an incredibly creative device invented to explain why professing Christians fail to conquer their sins). 

“Struggle Theologians say, ‘Forget that stuff about being more than conquerors in Christ and all things being possible to him who believes. Don’t start thinking you are better than other people. In fact, we’d like you to concentrate on other people. Don’t think about Jesus if you can help it. Think instead about sinners who call themselves Christians. These are your real role models.  Whatever they can’t do, you can’t do either.’”

“If a Struggle Theologian can find one person who professes to be a Christian and also is failing to overcome the sin of habitual drunkenness, he considers that sufficient reason to tell all of us that drunkenness is a difficult problem requiring complex coping strategies and that there are ‘no simple answers’ to this problem. If you try to point out that the Bible says drunkenness is a sin, not a disease, and that we are supposed to live above sin, the Struggle Theologian will accuse you of thinking you are better than other people and of being insensitive to the real problems others face. He may even go so far as to claim that when the church calls sin ‘sin’ and expects sinners to change their ways, we are driving the poor victims of sin even farther from the ‘healing’ that supposedly only occurs when we unconditionally accept them and their bad behavior” (pp. 28-29, Flirting with the Devil,” Bill pride).

Some of the debate on Tim’s blog focused on whether those who profess faith in Christ but remain in habitual sin should question whether they ever really experienced salvation. The passage Tim quoted offers a clear warning.   

“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. … Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6,8-10).

On this subject, there is (as with all biblical truth) tension and balance to respect. The early church leader James acknowledged that, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). The book of Hebrews described the christian life as a “struggle against sin” (Hebrews 12:4). The Apostle Paul pointed to the depths of our battle when he wrote, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). 

Yet none of this is meant to ease our conscience toward habitual sin in a way that we accept it as normal to the christian life. We’re called to, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5; cf. Romans 8:12-13).

The point about “Struggle Theology” might seem a bit simplistic or in need of balanced, but it’s worth considering when tempted to abuse the truth that we all struggle. 

“We Christians are supposed to deal with sin at the point of a sword, not to ‘struggle’ with it. Satan had to stroke [Eve] up and down with tempting suggestions before she ate the fruit. This kind of struggling is just a coy way of giving in to sin. You put up the appearance of a fight to fool onlookers into thinking you’re a good person who is trying his best, when really you never intended to permanently reject that sin in the first place” (p. 29, Flirting with the Devil,” Bill pride).

 Steve Cornell

 

Is it time to refocus your life?

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever”

(Westminster Catechism, see, Psalm 16:5-11; 144:15; Isaiah 12:2; Philippians 4:4). 

When we worship and serve our Creator, we experience the joy and fulfillment we were meant to know. Jesus taught that the greatest command is to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37, NIV).

God fills our lives with meaning and satisfies the longings of our hearts when we love Him with our entire being.

Idolatry is allowing our hearts to be consumed and controlled by something other than God. Anything or anyone that controls us in ways that violate God’s revealed will must be viewed as an idol.  This could include excessive activities or behaviors that otherwise might be considered harmless.

Seemingly neutral activities like work, exercise, listening to talk radio, watching cable news, internet use, reading, and sports can become harmfully addictive. Any behavior, activity or relationship that occupies a place in our lives that hurts other priorities must be brought under God’s will.

We inevitably sabotage ourselves when we ignore God; set ourselves up as God, or try to define God on our own terms. When we ignore God, we lose our sense of reference and direction.

When we turn the good gifts of the Creator against ourselves by excluding the worship of the Giver, we disorient life from its intended center. This happens when life becomes a means for meeting my needs and not for glorifying the Creator and serving others.

Steve Cornell

 

 

Five essentials on Spiritual Gifts

1. Source and Power: The Holy Spirit -                

I Corinthians 12:11 “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines” (cf. Ephesians 5:18-21).

2. Perspective and Attitude: Sober humility - Romans 12:3

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

3. Goal and Motive: Praise to God - 

I Peter 4:11 “…so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (cf. Matthew 6:1)

4. Measurement and Boundary: Scriptural authority and Love - 

The final measurement for defining and guiding all professed gifts is the written Word of God. The parameters for the function of gifts is love (see: II Timothy 3:16-17 and I Corinthians 12:31-13:8; 16:14)

5. Outcome and Means: Edifying and Orderly -

“Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.” (I Corinthians 14:26,33).

See:  What does the Spirit-filled life look like?

Steve Cornell

 

 

Wisdom on suffering

“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8).

Dick Keyes

“The Bible does not give us a quick and easy answer to why God allows evil to continue in his world. But if we think back about how God involved himself in such a costly way in the ultimate defeat of sin and death (crucifixion), then whatever reason he may have, it is not that he is indifferent to the human race” (Dick Keyes, “Seeing Through Cynicism“).

D. A. Carson

“Despite everything it (Scripture) says about the limitless reaches of God’s sovereignty, the Bible insists again and again on God’s unblemished goodness. `The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His deeds’ (Ps. 145:17). `His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He’ (Deut. 32:4).”

“The sovereign and utterly good God created a good universe. We human beings rebelled; rebellion is now so much a part of our make-up that we are all enmeshed in it. Every scrap of suffering we face turns on this fact. The Bible itself centers on how God takes action to reverse these dreadful effects and their root cause, sin itself, and the believer’s hope is the new heaven and earth where neither sin nor sorrow will ever be experienced again.”

“If in fact we believe that our sin properly deserves the wrath of God, then when we experience the sufferings of this world, all of them the consequences of human rebellion, we will be less quick to blame God and a lot quicker to recognize that we have no fundamental right to expect a life of unbroken ease and comfort. From the Biblical perspective, it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed” (D. A. Carson, “How Long, O Lord?“).

R. C. Sproul

“All things being equal, God does desire that no one perishes, but all things are not equal. Sin is real. Sin violates God’s holiness and righteousness. God also is not willing that sin go unpunished. He desires as well that His holiness be vindicated. When the preceptive will is violated, things are no longer equal. Now God requires punishment while not particularly enjoying the personal application of it” (R.C. Sproul, ”Following Christ”).

When Romans 8:28 reminds us that, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” –  “We note that Paul does not say here that all things that happen to us are good things. In fact, bad things happen to us. Painful things. Things that crush our spirits. Things that leave wounds and scars. Things that evoke grief and lead us into the house of mourning. Yet all of these bad things that happen to us are working together for our good” (R. C. Sproul, “The Invisible Hand“).

Philippians 3:20-21

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Resources on suffering:

• When God weeps
• When Life hurts
• When bad things happen
• A great song for those who are suffering!

Steve Cornell

 

Always leading us back to grace

This morning, I was thinking about how easily our hearts drift into efforts to justify ourselves in comparison with others. In some sad and deeply deceptive way, we feel better when we think we are better than others. 

Although we confess to knowing God only through the grace we received in Christ, we continue to feel this ugly pull toward self-justification. We turn to a surveying spirit of comparison to feed our longing for approval and acceptance. 

When we worship together, we sing of our acceptance with God as “not from ourselves but the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9), yet we fall for narratives of comparison with our fellow-worshippers to satisfy sinful desires to be better than others.

Perhaps we’re not as audacious as the man who prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers…” (Luke 18:11). Yet, in more subtle ways, our hearts fight a desire to be confident of our own righteousness and look down on everyone else.

How this must grieve the heart of our God! He “made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (II Corinthians 5:21). What does it say to our Savior “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5)? 

Over many years of walking with God and serving Him, I’ve noticed how faithfully God smashes this stubborn idol of self-justification. We are called to “serve each other in humility, for ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor” (I Peter 5:5-6).

God is always leading us back to grace to confess our unworthiness and to celebrate His mercy. This is where true service of God and others begins. 

God relentlessly leads us to find our confidence and comfort in the cross — not in some delusional and dangerous fantasy of being better than others. 

How I grieve when my heart looks to other sources of comfort!

Lead me to the cross.

 

Hot tub religion

Wise counsel from J. I. Packer 

“Modern life strains us. We get stimulated till we are dizzy. Relationships are brittle; marriages break; families fly apart; business is a cutthroat rat race, and those not at the top feel themselves mere cogs in another’s machine. Automation and computer technology have made life faster and tenser, since we no longer have to do the time-consuming routine jobs over which our grandparents used to relax their minds.”

“We have to run more quickly than any generation before us simply to stay where we are. No wonder that when modern Western man turns to religion what he wants is total relaxation, the sense of being at once soothed, supported and effortlessly invigorated: in short, hot tub religion. He asks for it, and up folk jump to provide it. What hot tub religion illustrates most clearly is the law of demand and supply.”

“What, then, should we say of hot tub religion? Certainly a rhythm of life that includes relaxation is right; the fourth commandment shows that. Alternating hard labor with fun times in right too; all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and Jesus so often went to banquets, the fun times of the ancient world, that he got called glutton and drunkard. Enjoying our bodies while we can, as opposed to despising them is part of the discipline of gratitude to our Creator. And uninhibited exuberances like clapping, dancing, shouting praise and crying out in prayer can be approved too, provided we do not hereby stumble others.”

“Without these hot tub factors, as we may call them, our Christianity would be less godly and less lively, for it would be less human. But if there were no more to our Christianity than hot tub factors – if, that is, we embraced a self-absorbed hedonism of relaxation and happy feelings, while dodging tough tasks, unpopular stances and exhausting relationships — we should fall short of biblical God-centeredness and of the cross-bearing life to which Jesus calls us, and advertise to the world nothing better than our own decadence. Please God, however, we shall not settle for that.” (J. I. Packer, Hot Tub Religion).

The danger of this hot tub mentality is not only that it loses sight of the place of service and of self-giving love as the path of joyful Christianity, but in the words of J.I. Packer, it also “loses sight of the place of pain in sanctification, whereby God trains his children to share his holiness.”

Packer explained, “The New Testament shows us that in the school of sanctification many modes of pain have their place — physical and mental discomfort and pressure, personal disappointment, restriction, hurt, and distress. God uses these things to activate the supernatural power that is at work in believers (2 Cor. 4:7-11); to replace self-reliance with total trust in the Lord who gives strength (2 Cor. 1:8f, 12:9f); and to carry on his holy work of changing us from what we naturally are into Jesus’ moral likeness ‘with ever-increasing glory’ (2 Cor. 3:18). Thus he prepares us for that which he has prepared for us.”

We all need green pastures and still waters from time to time. But the normal Christian life is marked by the sufferings of Jesus “because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (I Peter 2:21). 

It often requires God-given wisdom to trace God’s good hand in the hardships of life (James 1:5). And trace it, we must! For even in our trials there is joy when we fix our eyes on “the founder and perfecter of our faith” — knowing His promise, ”I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 12:2; 13:5). “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (I Peter 4:19, ESV).

Steve Cornell