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It seems like a good time to republish this article. I pray God will use it to renew your mind regarding America and the church.
Let me begin by saying that I am not proposing an answer to this question. I honestly want to know what Christians mean when they ask me to pray for America. What do they mean when they pray for America?
You may be wondering why this is difficult for me. I suspect it has to do with the definition of terms. I suspect America does not mean the same thing to everyone. Furthermore, I suspect – if you are one of the “pray for America” folks – the following will not sit well with you.
Please don’t dismiss me. I am just looking for answers.
Did you know that America was the number one producer of pornography in the world; and the number one benefactor of the sex slave trade? America also leads the world in the number of incarcerated individuals; a strong indication that America is number one in the practice of lawlessness.
It may sound like I have answered my own question: America needs prayer because America is in grave danger of going the way of many kingdoms before her. And we can’t have that; right? We love America.
Honestly, if that was all there was, I wouldn’t be asking the question. Here’s another: Why do we love America so much that we would pray for her – and be offended when others question why?
This is the crux of my struggle. How much do we love America? Has America become the idol of the church? Read the rest of this entry »
This article is NOT about American political parties and their platforms; it will not suggest how a Christian should vote. The purpose of this article is to encourage Christians to consider, personally and in community, how a citizen of God’s kingdom should be thinking about the election.
The short answer is “not like the world”. The vast majority of those reading this article know they have been called to a different perspective; we have the mind of Christ and are seated with Him in heavenly places. We hope you will consider this as a timely reminder and a tool to help others think like kingdom citizens.
The following includes a number of questions intended to facilitate group discussion. Some answers have been provided, but you and your spheres of influence will likely have your own (and most of those will be correct). Including God in the conversation will facilitate the hearing of faith for everyone involved.
Let’s start with some kingdom perspective. First, all Christians are citizens of two nations or kingdoms: An earthly nation (e.g., the United States of America) and the kingdom of God. Those who are not Christians are only citizens of America. They do not understand the kingdom of God.
- Christians have a relationship with both nations. As citizens of America we are responsible to be good citizens and, in turn, we receive certain rights and privileges. The relationship is described as a democratic republic.
- As citizens of the kingdom of God, we are bondservants of the King. We have no rights beyond those given to us by the King, but we do have many incredible privileges. What are some of those? Birthright (1John 3:9, Romans 8:16), kingdom knowledge (Matthew 13:11), perspective (Ephesians 2:4-6), and defense against our spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:10-20) – just to name a few.
- Furthermore, as kingdom of God citizens, we have been given certain authority to act on the King’s behalf in the nation of America. What are some of those roles? Royal priesthood, ambassadors, and agents of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18-20).
- Still, we are sojourners (1Peter 2:9-12). This world is not our home.
Second, God relates and responds differently to His kingdom people than He does to America and its citizens.
“Revival is God’s people doing God’s work, God’s way.” Vance Havner (2008)
“The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His way with us.” Oswald Chambers (1995)
I recently learned an important lesson about doing things God’s way. When a local Sunday School class invited us to lead a study of the Sermon on the Mount (SOTM), I suggested a twenty-six-week series. The class leadership countered with twelve weeks or less and only thirty minutes of teaching each week!
How do you cover fifty-plus sayings of Jesus in such a limited timeframe? Concerned twelve weeks would not allow for anything more than a compromised exploration of the most important sermon ever preached and that generalizing the Sermon would not adequately encourage the doing necessary to produce strong houses (Matthew 7:24-25), I pressed for more time. The leaders stood firm.
Much to my surprise, the syllabus we developed together turned out to be God’s way for the study. He used what I would call an overly simplified approach to reveal several foundations of His kingdom and its good news. Honestly, I am amazed at the revelation and encouragement I received from the study.
In the process, I also learned that deep technical dives into Scripture are not always the best method for teaching, and that God orchestrates teaching opportunities with more consideration for the audience’s needs than the teacher’s abilities and preference.
Lastly, I was once again reminded that God has a way for everything; finding and following His ways always leads to exciting adventures and discoveries.
It should come as no surprise that Jesus has much to say about doing things God’s way: the only way He did everything (John 5:19, 30; John 12:49-50; and John 14:24). In this article, we will explore two of God’s ways for doing the sayings of Jesus. But first… Read the rest of this entry »
Faithful stewards of the mysteries of God learn that revelation begets revelation. One discovery of the truth broadens our mindset to reveal or further explain the topography and ways of the kingdom of God. It’s like a steward finding fertile ground on the backside of his master’s estate and then plowing up large nuggets of gold. For some reason, I have in my mind’s eye Jed Clampett shooting at a rabbit and discovering oil.
Anyway, back to the reality of our Father’s kingdom…
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke 11:9
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6
God is not hiding the truth from us that we might never find it. He lovingly accommodates those with an expressed interest in faithful stewardship.
In our article on Living Without Sin, we explored the separation of our spirit man – the one born of God – and our flesh. The importance of this discovery is worth repeating, in summary:
- God offers the grace we need to live in victory over sin. We lay hold of that grace through faith (not self-effort).
- Recognizing that sin resides within our flesh and not in us (those born of God) gives us clarity and great encouragement for the battle we face against the sin in our lives. God the Holy Spirit is at enmity with the sin in our flesh; not with us. He is our all-powerful ally in the war against sin.
- With clarity comes responsibility. As new creatures in Christ, no longer deceived about the battlefield and gloriously aware of His battle tactics, we must take ownership for putting down our flesh (by the Spirit).
This discovery – particularly #2 – leads to an incredibly encouraging revelation about the role suffering plays in the battle against our flesh and its mind.
The Good Purpose of Suffering
Once we realize that our flesh is not a part of who we are as men and women born of God, we can use all forms of suffering to further separate our newly created self from the flesh and its mind. In a very real sense, our new, born-of-God self is not negatively affected by persecution, affliction, trial, and tribulation. Read the rest of this entry »
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2 reveals two important things about the Christian mind. First, there is something wrong with it; it must be “renewed, renovated, and completely changed for the better (Blue Letter Bible, Outline of Biblical Usage, 2020).” Second, without this renewal, the Christian will remain both conformed to the world and unable to know and obey God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will.
The renewal of our minds – required for our transformation into Kingdom citizens – is more challenging than most Christians recognize. We are born with a nature that works hard to interpret the things we hear and read in ways that will not disrupt our established paradigms. We prefer to trust existing interpretations of Scripture and are encouraged to do so by our teachers.
Holding fast to sound doctrine is important, but resistance to paradigm shifts can leave us short on the truth. Therefore, it is important to recognize that the combined doctrines of man fall short of explaining God and His kingdom. Our maturation as Christians requires a humble approach to learning. We would do well to maintain an objective consideration of God’s word and the vastness of its truth.
What if, instead of relying on comfortable interpretations, we accepted the word of God as it is written, allowing it to challenge our paradigms? What if, instead of applying assumptions of hyperbole or metaphor to every passage that threatens us, we wrestled to grasp the depth of God’s word? With these challenges in mind, we offer a case in point from two statements found in John’s first epistle:
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 1John 3:9
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 1John 5:18
Taken literally, the Holy Spirit (through John) claims that every Christian does not and cannot sin, because he has been born of God, because he keeps himself (i.e., attends to carefully, takes care of, guards), and because the wicked one has no influence over him. Take a moment to consider this claim literally; resist the temptation to explain it away. The implications are astounding!! Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus gave ten examples to help us understand that the kingdom is a matter of the heart. We will conclude our review of these here, as well as draw some general conclusion from Chapter 5. In these final examples, it is particularly easy to identify the “doing” associated with Jesus’ sayings – and that is a good thing.
However, we must remember that Jesus’ focus remains on our hearts, not our performance; the goal is to be made into kingdom citizens, not to make or justify ourselves. This is a very good thing; only the most immature Christian would think they could do these sayings in their own strength.
Love, Bless, Do Good, and Pray for Your Enemies
Several times in this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has used “You have heard…” to extend and enrich our understanding of the Father’s heart desire in the Law and the Prophets. As we will now discover, not only is our understanding potentially more limited and shallower than we would like, in at least one case, it might just be wrong.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:43-45
In this case, Jesus is addressing a humanly devised extension of the Law which was not intended by God. While they were told to love their neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), God never commanded the Israelites to conversely hate their enemies.
Israel had many nations as enemies, and God did identify a few who would suffer for their opposition to His people. However, these were exceptions. In fact, it was God’s intention to bless the nations through His people (a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3). The religious rulers of Jesus’ day had turned a few specific references into a general rule. In doing so, they caused the entire nation to lose sight of God’s eternal plan. As a side note: We would be wise to recognize our own tendencies to do this very thing, particularly those of us who are teachers and preachers of the Word. Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus gave ten examples to help us understand that the kingdom is a matter of the heart. We will explore three more here. Because they are examples, the “doing” of these sayings is easier to identify – and that is a good thing. However, we must remember that Jesus’ focus remains on our hearts, not our performance; the goal is to be made into kingdom citizens, not to make or justify ourselves.
Do Not Swear at All
Most of Jesus’ sayings in the Sermon on the Mount – you know, those sayings we are to do – are truly beyond our human ability. They are only accomplished by the life of Jesus Christ, the One who has come to live in us. Here we find an exception – one saying that appears quite easy to obey. And yet, mankind has amazingly chosen to do something in complete opposition to what Jesus has said. Truly, how do we excuse ourselves?
Consider the matter of oath taking. Jesus said:
Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37
Could anything be more clear? Whatever is more than our “yes” and “no” is from the evil one. Why then do so many followers of Jesus Christ submit to the courts of this nation, put one hand on a Bible, raise the other, and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is this not taking an oath? Does it make it okay – or does it make it worse – that a Bible is used in this process?
These questions lead us to a deeper kingdom principle; something deeper than dos and don’ts. For those with eyes to see, this is a great example of the subtly of the evil one’s deception; leading to our conformity to the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus gave ten examples to help us understand that the kingdom is a matter of the heart. We will explore three more here. Because they are examples, the “doing” of these sayings is easier to identify – and that is a good thing. However, we must remember that Jesus’ focus remains on our hearts, not our performance; the goal is to be made into a kingdom citizen, not to make or justify ourselves.
Guard the Lamp of Your Body
You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28
The house that stands in the storm will be the house of the man that guards his heart from the lusts of his eyes. This is an incredibly important issue for the church in America; particularly when you consider the houses that are being built around our pastors and our fellowships. Of all the judgment that will come to the house of God (1Peter 4:17), the judgment for this sin will be one of the most severe.
Consider the statistics. A Leadership Journal survey reports that four in ten pastors online have visited a pornographic Web site; and more than one-third have done so in the past year. Expastors.com reports that, of the 1,351 pastors that Rick Warren’s website, Pastors.com, surveyed on porn use, 54% said they had viewed internet pornography within the last year and 30% of those had visited within the last 30 days.
According to Patrick Means (2006), 63% of pastors surveyed confirm that they are struggling with sexual addiction or sexual compulsion including, but not limited to, the use of pornography, compulsive masturbation, or other secret sexual activity. Furthermore, 75% of pastors do not make themselves accountable to anyone for their Internet use.
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22
Read the rest of this entry »
Generally speaking, learning involves adding knowledge to existing foundations. For example, reading requires a knowledge of the alphabet; geometry provides a base for trigonometry, which in turn serves as a footing for calculus. Foundations and carefully constructed frameworks are critical success factors in education.
Occasionally however, students (and their teachers) are faced with information that challenges their foundations (e.g., a round earth that is not the center of the universe). Those able to understand and embrace these paradigm challenges discover and create whole new worlds. Imagine where we would be if mankind had decided to discard the possibility of human flight. How many would still believe flat-earth theory?
In Matthew 5:17-20 (the passage covered in our previous article), we find Jesus drawing on both forms of learning. First, He assures those listening that the Law and Prophets are foundational to the kingdom of God – that following and teaching the commandments of God is critically important. He then challenges their paradigm concerning the interpretation and demonstration of the Law provided by the Pharisees and Scribes by stating that entering the kingdom of God requires a greater righteousness.
There are several important lessons here, for both students and teachers:
- Strong foundations allow for paradigm challenges.
- Students need help understanding what is foundation and what is being challenged.
- Teachers are most often the creators of false paradigms.
- Transformation often requires significant paradigm shifts.
- Teachers must be willing to speak the truth in the face of potential opposition.
- Examples help tremendously – particularly when paradigm shifts are involved.
In Matthew 5: 21-47, being the best of teachers, Jesus gives ten examples to explain the righteous fulfillment of the Law required by God. We will cover each of these in turn over the next couple of weeks. But first, a few general observations. Read the rest of this entry »
It seems we commonly make the mistake of handling Biblical truth as nothing more than facts. In teaching and learning, we must come to understand the differences between the two.
- Facts are passive; truth is active (e.g., it makes people free, it is alive and powerful).
- Facts are for our head, to be analyzed; truth is for our hearts, to be believed.
- Facts are accessible to the whole human race; the truth is accessible only to those whom God gives ears to hear and eyes to see.
The teacher and the student both have responsibility in this regard. I mention this here because, though I did my best to fulfill my part, the following would be easily read as facts. If one does not force themself to receive it as truth, the desired effect will not be achieved.
Therefore, I encourage you to exercise your spiritual ears with a heart desiring to believe. God promises that, if you do so, He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
Though we may not think of it this way, the Sermon on the Mount is a carefully constructed sermon. As we have discovered, the Beatitudes come first and in a particular, purposeful order. In them, the first listeners (and subsequent readers) are astounded and perplexed by Jesus’ characterization of kingdom citizens. Three dramatic and dynamic descriptions of our relationship with the world quickly follow: we are to be persecuted (vv.11-12) as God’s gifts of proverbial salt (v. 13) and light (vv. 14-16) to the world and for His Father’s glory.
Having given such a radical description of kingdom citizens and their assignment in the earth, Jesus must have felt that it was important to reassure the disciples that God’s Law and the words of His Prophets were fixed and eternal. He did not come to change the Father’s purposes and plans in the earth; rather, it was His assignment to fulfill them. Read the rest of this entry »
