Christ

Our View of God–Where We Go Wrong

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

How do we view God?  This is perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves.  A.W. Tozer says that “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

And far too often, God is not God to us.  Too often, God is not God to me.  I fail to honor His authority.  I fail to rest in His supreme love.  And I fail to surrender my all to Him.  And before I begin this post, I admit my own failures, and submit to you, my reader, that the following words are meant for me as much as anyone else.

We live in a society where religion supersedes relationship.  We are too pleased with going to church on Sunday, giving change, and just simply “showing up.”  Woody Allen, the filmmaker, said that 95% of life is “just showing up.”  I heard that quote for the first time yesterday, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.  I mean, seriously?  Is that what God wants from us, for us to simply “show up?”  We see God as someone who’s looking for a good effort, and that earns our place in His presence. 

I submit that we simply “show up” out of fear.  We’re afraid of going to hell, but there is no fear of a wasted life.  We fear eternal damnation, but not enough to surrender material things.  We fear God’s wrath, but we completely miss God’s amazing love for us in Christ Jesus, which is able to give us full, abundant life.

We live in a society where God is not God, but a means to an end.  Christ is able to give us full, abundant life, but that life is IN HIM, not FROM HIM.  It is through union with Christ, a trust in Christ, and Holy Spirit, grace-driven obedience, albeit inconsistent at times, to Christ that gives us full life.  It is when we are in God’s will, and in union with Him, that we have full, abundant life.  Christ is not a means to an end.  He does not intend to be used to a healthy, happy, successful life, apart from His will, but indeed, a God-exalting, Christ-honoring, and Holy Spirit-driven life IN His will.  This destroys the heresy of the prosperity gospel.  God’s greatest gift is Himself.  God is not a butler, ready to serve us with material things.  God, for believers, is a heavenly Father that intends to use us for His glory, giving us joy in Him, as we walk in relationship with Him.  We don’t use God.  We find joy in being used by Him, as we submit to His will for our lives, realizing that our hope is in Him, not in this world.

We live in a society where God’s authority is not respected.  We live in a world where it’s all about me, myself and I.  We have NO respect for God’s authority, and we try to fashion God to be who we want Him to be, instead of submitting to who He is.  We say that we’re cool with God, as long as He meets our expectations and our agenda.  This is the same problem the Pharisees had.  They expected Jesus to be this great king that would lead them from under Roman rule.  When Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, they crucified Him.  While this was God’s plan, it does not mean that the people were not responsible.  Peter tells them plainly in Acts 2 that it is Jesus “whom you crucified.”  The good news is, these people were “cut to the heart,” and looked to the one who defeated sin and death on their behalf for forgiveness and new life.  We must do the same. 

We live in a society where doing good things is not about loving other people or loving God, but about feeling better for ourselves.  We care more about our image than we do about God’s glory.  There’s a charity of some sort, whose name I can’t remember, and they have a trailer somewhere in the Alabaster/Montevallo area.  On it, their slogan says “Get that good feeling!”  That slogan disgusts me.  If we do good things just so we feel better about ourselves, that’s not love.  That’s selfishness and hypocrisy. 

We make Christianity out to be all about taking bad people and making them into pious people who meet once a week and do good things.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about love.  Love is to separate us from the rest of the world.  Not an emotion.  Not a feeling.  Not just a general liking of other people.  But a love that takes up our time, our money, and forces us to humble ourselves and make ourselves nothing.  A love that ultimately leads us to the gospel, to God’s love.  If it isn’t heading towards the cross, then all we’re doing is being good philanthropists.  I can do all the community service I want, but in God’s eyes, if that’s done for anything else than His glory, and my motivations aren’t right, it’s sin.  If I’m not doing it with eyes open to opportunities to share the gospel, then I’m missing the point altogether.

We put social action in front of the gospel.  Human trafficking, AIDS, corrupt governments, and other social ills need to be addressed.  Hear me out.  Due to the influence of events like Passion, young people are more motivated to end human trafficking.  And that’s a great thing.  But if it’s not done for the sake of the gospel, it is worthless.  Again…if social movements and social justice are done for anything less than the gospel, it is worthless.  It will not last.  We are so focused on this life that we fail to remember that there is an eternal life that awaits all of us, either in hell or in heaven.  And even if we free women and children from the bondage of human trafficking, if we fail to share the gospel with them, it is meaningless.  We’ve freed them from slavery in this life, but we haven’t told them of the one who frees them from slavery to sin, from God’s wrath and from eternal damnation.  And too often, going back to my last paragraph, we do it out of guilt, or out of a need to confirm our own identity.  We do it to make ourselves feel better, with no true concern for other people.  It should disgust us when we hear people talking about doing “good things” because “it just makes you feel good about yourself.” 

Christ didn’t die so that I could feel better about myself.  He didn’t come to give me self-worth.  He came to rid me of dependance on myself for identity.  He came to give me a new identity in Him!  He didn’t come and die, paying for every sin that I ever committed and ever will commit, so that I can have my “best life now.”

No…Jesus came and lived a righteous life so that I could trust in Him, not my good works, to make me right with God, by His righteousness which I love and trust in.  Jesus came and died on the cross and took the wrath of God for me, not so that I can see Him as a means to an end, but so I may rest in His grace and love, that I may rejoice and worship Him for the great things He has done.  Jesus came to die and rise again so that I may follow Him as Lord, as Ruler.  His authority is a good thing.  It keeps me from going back to the old man.  It gives me joy in Christ.  It makes me new.  In the gospel, our view of the law changes.  The law, God’s authority, whatever you may call it, is now not a ladder we must climb, but a way in which we know God more.  We learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates.  We are free to follow and obey out of joy, in a desire to grow in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, trusting that Christ first kept it for us to give us salvation.  We now have joy in walking it out in sanctification.

And a gospel-centered view of missions doesn’t stop at social action.  It sees social action, movements like the End It Movement and other similar projects, as a way to share God’s love with the world, that they may be saved, eternally.  Let us fix our eyes on eternity, and consider how we spend our days.  Let me do this.

So what is your view of God?  Is He a tyrant?  Is He someone you respect?  Is He Lord?  Part of following Jesus as Lord is confessing and repenting when we realize we have acted in such a way to say that He is not Lord.  Is God someone you trust?  Do you look to Him for a better life, or do you look to Him for life itself?

I’m tired of being lukewarm and cozy.  I’m tired of inconsistency.  I’m tired of hypocrisy.  I’m tired of seeing my own wrong views of God.  I’m tired of holding back.  And I’m tired of not pursuing God in everything I do.  I’m tired of not finding ultimate joy in Him.  I’m tired…just flat out tired of immaturity in my own life, where I fail to honor Jesus as Lord.  I know I’ll mess up again, and I’m trusting that Jesus will pick me up.  But I refuse to stay the same.  I refuse, and invite God to come and change me, once again.  I invite you to join me at the cross, where Jesus stands ready to forgive and make new, through His once-for-all sacrifice for all my sin.  I believe it.  I trust Him, that He did that for me.  And by His blood, by His grace, through this faith, because of what He has done, He tells me I’m saved.  But saved for a reason.  To follow Him.  Join me in this, dear reader.

Lord, I repent of my failures, of my sins, of my immaturity.  I have failed in so many ways, and honestly, find it hard to believe at times that you forgive me.  But you are God, and you ordained all things, and said that forgiveness is granted to those who ask it.  You took the punishment for my sin.  You took the wrath of God for me, and you truly paid it all.  I can trust that all my sin is paid for.  So I can confess boldly, knowing the payment has been made.  But may I never forget at what cost it came–Your blood, Jesus.  I ask you to come lead me as Lord, once again.  When I fall down, pick me up, remind me of the cross, and help me grow.  Lord, help me put off laziness.  Help me grow spiritually, and not be content with complacency, excusing it as struggles that everyone has.  Your authority is good, and I joyfully submit to it.  Make me right with God, Jesus, not because of anything I’ve done, but through your righteousness.  I trust in You.  Help me to love you and continue to follow you.  Come and work in and through me by your grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  None of this is possible unless you move.  Come, Lord Jesus.

May we never forget the cross, where Jesus made an end of all our sin, for those who will believe in Him and trust in His work.  May we be quick to confess our sin, and be diligent in putting it off.  May we seek to renew our mind, with the right view of God.  May we seek to love Jesus more, and make Him known.  May all that we do bring Him honor and glory.  May we always trust in Christ and the cross, and the empty tomb, where our salvation comes from. 

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”–Psalms 20:7

God bless,

Neal E.

If you have any questions, comments, or future blog ideas, feel free to comment on here, look me up on Facebook or Twitter (@NealEmbry) or email me at rembry@forum.montevallo.edu.  I’d love to hear from you!

 

The Right Thing–Happy Valley and Our Lives

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Doing the right thing is so complicated at times, isn’t it?  Or at least it seems that way.

Tonight, if you haven’t heard, legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno was fired amidst a child abuse scandal at the school.

I won’t go into the details of the case, and I will assume you know them, if not, go to USA Today or ESPN.  But the details we need are this: In March 2002, Joe Paterno was apparently told by his graduate assistant that Jerry Sandusky, a former coordinator for PSU, had been seen doing something of a sexual nature to a ten-year old boy in the locker room.  And he passed the information along to his superiors.  Again, that’s as graphic as I will get tonight.  Read the grand jury report if you want details. I warn you, don’t read them aloud to your children….they are extremely disturbing.

I say these things only to set the stage for my post tonight.  Here is what most people would call a heinous crime, an unthinkable act of sin and moral depravity, and here’s Joe Paterno.  This man stood for 50 years as an icon, not just on the football field, but an icon of integrity off the field.  Now, all of that is now tarnished, whether you think it fair or not.  Why? Because men, supposedly good men, failed to make the right decision.

He (Paterno) is not implicated in the case.  Again, Paterno is not facing charges.  He told his superiors, including athletic director Tim Curley, who has, along with other school officials, stepped down.  So, legally, he did what he had to do.  Did he do enough morally?  I don’t know, because right now, we don’t know how much Paterno knew.  So, changing from my reaction last night, I’ll refrain from making a judgment on Paterno’s moral level of responsibility.

My questions lie with the graduate assistant as much as anyone.  He apparently sees a child being raped, and he doesn’t call the police?  Really?  While Joe Paterno might need to hold some responsibility, the man who saw this act needs to be held accountable as well.  When it comes down to it, though, everyone failed at Penn State by failing to investigate more.  I would wait to make a judgment on how responsible Paterno is, but at the heart of this matter is the failure of adults to protect children from predators, and the failure to make the right choice.

The right choice isn’t determined necessarily by what the law says.  It must go far beyond that.  The law says nothing about attempting to stop a murder, rape, or kidnapping.  It doesn’t say that we are obligated to help a child that is lost.

The Bible tells us that it is a sin to not do the right thing.  James 4:17 says “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”  It is sin.  Moving past Penn State and Paterno now, I move to our lives.  Do we consistently do the right thing?  I don’t mean giving ten percent on Sunday.  I’m not talking about artificially smiling at people so they think you love them.  I’m talking about every day, going out of our way to serve others, to love others, to do the right thing.  To take care of our children! To take care of the homeless, the poor, the hated, the outcast, those who don’t know Jesus!  Because the Word says that if we do not do these things, it is sin!

Read Proverbs.  Read James.  Read the gospel.  Doing the right thing is not just a laundry list of religious rituals.  It is daily taking up your cross, and with every single ounce of fight within you, taking up your cross, making war on sin, and living a life that is modeled after Jesus Christ’s, and that seeks to bring glory to His name.

Brothers, sisters, we’re together in this.  I confess that I do not always fight as hard as I should.  Lately I have felt and seen and suffered from spiritual warfare.  It is hard.  Win or lose, I’m exhausted, which only adds to the pressure academics has put on me this week.  So I need prayer.  But I also need to fight.  As soon as I asked God to give me supernatural strength to fight sin, a few hours later, temptation came.  I thought about it for a few minutes, then remembered how bad it felt.  How empty I felt.  And I felt this unbelievable, and God-given, surge of strength to get up, scream (which I’m sure my hall enjoyed), and walk away.  It is a war.  It is a choice, doing the right thing.  And we must do it.

I’m not saying that we will always win, that we will be perfect.  We will not be.  I’m certainly not.  Joe Paterno isn’t.  Does that take away from who he is and what he’s done?  No.  It means he’s human.  But it teaches us a lesson: No matter how good you think you are, or how you’re viewed, or how long you’ve been making the right decisions, sin is always there.  You can always slip up.  So we must constantly guard ourselves, and make the right decision, whether it be how we handle a relationship, how we talk to our professors, how we conduct ourselves in ministry, etc.  It is vital for the believer to not disregard these sins of omission, and this sin of not making the right decision.

Simply living a life of “not being bad” is not enough.  We’re called to bear fruit.  These sins of omission have brought down some mighty figures in America tonight.  And they can bring any of us down as well.  We are no better.  I say these things with love for all those involved, and not judgment.  I believe Paterno made the wrong decision, but you know, the thing is….would we have had better judgment?  I asked that earlier, but don’t think it’s an easy question.

But it’s a question we face every day.  Will we do the right thing?  Will we honor Christ in our decision-making?  I applied for summer missions tonight.  And I had to fill out my “history.”  I had to answer some questions that are uncomfortable, and you can guess what they are based on my previous posts.  It’s tough to tell people what’s happened in the past, and to trust that it will not affect their judgment of my ability to serve next summer.  But I had to be honest.  If I’m not honest, what would that say about me?  Being transparent is very important for us today, because it shows that we are real people, with real problems.

We aren’t perfect.  But may we take this lesson from a not-so Happy Valley tonight: We face a choice to make the right decision every day.  We face the day, knowing by God’s Word, the right thing to do.  When we get into our days, we know what those things are.  The question for us tonight is this: How will we respond?

When the time comes to do the right thing, to make the right choice, to do what is right, no matter what the law says….what will we do?

Keep the victims of this horrific crime in your prayers.  Keep Paterno, and all of the PSU officials, in your prayers.  Keep me in your prayers, and I’ll keep you in mine.  May tonight remind us all that none of us are safe from sin, from the devil, from temptation, and from failing in our Christian responsibilities.  We need each other.  It’s a sad night, and a scary night, for those of us who realize how real the temptation to act sinfully, or to not act righteously in omission, really is.  Spiritual warfare is real, in Happy Valley, in Birmingham, in Montevallo, Europe, Africa, everywhere.  We must respond by making the right decision.

May we do the right thing.  May we make the right choice, the right decision.  May we learn from this example, and know that no matter how much it inconveniences us, we must do the right thing, and honor the Lord.

God bless,

Neal E