Am I a "vigorous" or "sickly" Christian?

Check out this quote from MUFHH today:

"Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our "hanging on by the skin of our teeth," although we say, "What a wonderful victory I have!" Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said..."

View the whole devotion here.

+++

I'm currently in Grand Rapids, Michigan, attending a "Worship Renewal Grant Colloquium" (I know. I had to look up colloquium too. It turns out that it means an informal gathering for the exchange of ideas. Seems like a mostly fitting description for this particular conference.).

Last night I went to a workshop concerning the use of visual arts in a worship gathering. I don't have time to record all of the speaker's observations, but one of the things he talked about was a study that he had conducted of Protestant, Catholics, and Greek Orthodox churches in S. California. Among many other things, he learned that Protestants tended (there are many Protestant churches that aren't this way) to experience their times of worship together on an "inward and intensely personal" level. Interestingly enough, one of the contributors to the "self-centered, sickly type of Christianity" (as Oswald Chambers describes what our faith can turn into in the quote above) that this workshop speaker indicated was a lack of concern for the aesthetics or visuals in Protestant churches.

That's all I have time to post this morning. I can provide some more concrete examples of this from the workshop to anyone who's interested.

John 1:35-42

Today's MUFHH pointed me to John 1:35-42.

Apart from what John said in the prologue (John 1:1-18) and what John the Baptist has said about Jesus so far (1:26, 29-34, 36), this is our first actual encounter with Jesus in John's gospel. The IVP commentary available online concerning this passage is helpful.

A few things that struck me after reading the passage and the commentary for which I included the link above:

1. John's disciples immediately follow Jesus when John identifies him as the Lamb of God (1:37). I wonder if this speaks to Christian leadership? We should live humble lives that prepare to recognize and follow Jesus. And, in this instance, John's disciples literally follow Jesus, and apparently without saying anything. He actually turns around and asks them what they want (1:38). What would you say if Jesus asked you this question?
2. Either at a loss for words or truly desiring to be with him, John's disciples wonder, "Where are you staying?" (1:38)
3. Jesus responds: "Come...and you will see." That's interesting, how Jesus chooses to respond, isn't it? There are a lot of ways that he could've responded to their question, but the way that he responded seems like an invitation to relationship.

Sometimes it causes me to tremble: The adventures of will and conscience, Part 2

So it's really a question of obedience (see "The Adventures of Will and Conscience, Part 1" below to catch up on why this is the question): To obey God, OR to obey the "perversity and obstinacy" within (a.k.a. "my sinful nature," see Rom. 7:15-25). And this is where the passage of Scripture from today's My Utmost for His Highest devotion comes in.

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:12-13, NIV).

I looked up the Greek words that Paul uses for "fear and trembling." Did you know that he uses this combination of words in a couple of other letters also? I confess, if I've seen these before, I forgot them. Check out Ephesians 6:5 and 2 Corinthians 7:15 (and read the surrounding context if you have time too).

Paul connects fear and trembling with obedience in all of these passages (Philippians 2:12, Ephesians 6:5, and 2 Corinthians 7:15).

But, Alex, what does "fear and trembling" mean? And what is the cause of this concerned quaking? Those are good questions.

The word used for "trembling" has a different connotation than I expected:

"..used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty."

Hmm.

So, when I work out my salvation with fear and trembling, I'm supposed to distrust my own ability to do all it would require of me.

And what did our salvation require? Just look back a little further in the letter to the Philippians, 2:6-11. Jesus' obedience to God required him to go all the way to the cross (2:8).

So I can handle distrusting my own ability to completely meet all the requirements of my own salvation. And Jesus says a lot about trusting Him, so this makes sense. We have to distrust our ability to save/deliver ourselves from the mess we're in if we're going to allow Jesus to do it. (If you're wondering what the mess is, remember the struggle for obedience described in the last post or Romans 7? That's part of it.)

But this doesn't remove the obligation that we have to religiously do our utmost, i.e. to live obediently to God's Word, knowing that Jesus has rescued us from this "body of death" (Romans 7:24). (In fact, we will one day have new bodies entirely. These will be like His glorious resurrected body. They won't be corrupted by sin, or "perversity and obstinance," as Chambers says. For more on this, see 1 Corinthians 15. Also, check out any of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances in the gospel and you can try to get some sense of what this new body is like.)

Maybe that's why Philippians 2:12-13 sounds a little confusing at first: "[you] continue to work out your salvation...for it is God who works in you..." We have to work out (how?) what God is working in us.

We'll give Chambers the final word for this post: "Do I believe that Almighty God is the source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it."

All for now.

The Adventures of Will and Conscience, Part 1

Read today's MUFHH; this is some exciting stuff.

Chambers says, "When the Lord is presented to the conscience, the first thing the conscience does is to rouse the will, and the will always agrees with God. You say--'But I do not know whether my will is in agreement with God."*

If you're like me, you might have a little trouble wrapping your mind around that sentence at first. So, it helped to picture it as an actual introduction. For our purposes, let's pretend someone knocks on the door of your house (or dorm room or apartment). Also, let's pretend that your conscience is a person and lives in your house. Their name is Conscience (I know, that's not very creative, is it?) Oh...also, your will also lives there and his name is Will (that one makes a little more sense but still isn't very creative). Here goes, Chambers' words in story form:

A knock at your door. Conscience opens it, as usual. And you, as usual, are busy doing something else. But you wonder who it is. Conscience is about to find out.

"Hello, Conscience. I AM."

"Woh!," Conscience thinks. She's unsure what to do. Her legs are like Jell-O and her heart comes into her throat. She feels like a little kid, nervous and excited at the same time about an important visitor. "I know," she goes on thinking, "I'll get Will." Conscience runs off to get Will. (She never did have good manners and has left your guest standing at the door momentarily). She knocks on Will's door. "Will!...Will! You're not gonna believe this..."

"He must be asleep," Conscience thinks to herself. "Will! Wake up. Someone's at the door." Will is roused from his nap. He opens the door, tieing the cloth belt around his robe and then rubbing his sleepy eyes awake. Conscience explains the situation: "Someone's at the door for you!" She says it as if he should've been awake and waiting for this guest. Will decides not to respond to her tone of voice but rather her intent, and he follows her back to the door.

And this is where you enter the story. You were hard at work on something else, but couldn't help but hear Conscience as she knocked on Will's door and woke him up. You can't see who's standing at the door yet, but you see Will listening intently and nodding every now and again, as if he agrees with everything the visitor is saying.

"That's funny. I don't remember Will ever agreeing with me about anything, much less a stranger. Who could this be, that Will is going along with everything he says?"

+++

Again: "When the Lord is presented to the conscience, the first thing the conscience does is to rouse the will, and the will always agrees with God. You say--'But I do not know whether my will is in agreement with God."

When I read those words this morning, I got to the part that says, "...and the will always agrees with God." And I thought, "I don't know about that..." But, of course, Chambers anticipated that (as you can see from the rest of the quote). He goes on to say, "Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. The thing in you which makes you say, 'I shan't' is something less profound than your will; it is perversity, or obstinacy, and they are never in agreement with God." And I thought about that, and I think that's true.

My will, when confronted by my Creator (!), when it meets the presence of the Living God living in me through the Holy Spirit, knows what needs to be done. To put it another way: We know--I know--what needs to be done because not only did God create us to know right from wrong, but also His Spirit is at work in the world, and within us as believers. And, just like Isaiah or Peter when in the presence of God (see Isaiah 6:5 or Luke 5:8), our wills--we ourselves--are undone.

But there is also something else, something "perverse and obstinant" (to use Chambers words) that is at work in us, trying to keep our conscience and our will from obeying God (see Romans 7:15-25 for a biblical description of what's going on here).

Not wanting to end on a note like that, this is only part one. This post is already getting lengthy, so I'm going to continue commentary on today's devotion from My Utmost for His Highest in the next post.

To be continued...

*Note: if this sounds a little different from the text at the link above, it's because I'm using the "old school" edition...not the official name for that edition, but it works.

The never leaving, never forsaking God

Today's passage of Scripture from My Utmost for His Highest:

"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."

-Hebrews 13:5 (quoting Deuteronomy 31:6)

Chamber's commentary on this Scripture is a challenge, exploring whether we really believe that God will never leave or forsake us. For example:

"We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and bye, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in the present minute. If we have God's say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we learn to sing in the ordinary days and ways."

prayer as essential to life as blood and breathing

This is an excerpt from this past Friday's (5/26) My Utmost for His Highest devotion:

"If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on. We are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect joint with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an excercise, it is the life" (speaking about 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

trusting in God trumps self-interest

So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left" (Genesis 13:8-9).

In today's My Utmost For His Highest devotion, Chambers comments on the passage above, saying, "God sometimes allows you to go into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God."

Try an excercise: insert "trust" where Chambers has written "faith."

***

Did you know that, biblically speaking, the word used for faith is the same as the word for trust? I just heard someone speak on this topic. He was reminding us how a lot of the original meaning of the word faith has been lost (in the whole, fruitless "faith v. reason" Enlightenment thinking). And so the word faith has been corrupted. But trust has not. So this means that you can also substitute "trust" where Jesus talks about "faith" and anywhere Paul talks about faith and, that passage in Hebrews 11? Yeah, it works there too (That's one of the major examples our speaker used. His name was Andrew Olsen from New Missions Systems International).

What happens when you make this change in thinking? You begin to notice that faith is not just an indefinable quality. For example (and this example is again, thanks to Mr. Olsen), if I told you that you don't have enough faith, it would be a lot like telling you that you're too short. You can't do anything about it other than feel guilty.

But if I told you that you don't trust God enough. Ah! Trusting is something I can do. It might not be easy, but I can let go, I can put my hands up in surrender, I can let someone else take control. Not saying this is going to be easy, but when you think about it, it's not impossible like willing myself to grow taller.

***

And now I think I will reflect more on Abram (and later Abraham), "the man of trust" (Gal. 3:9).

thoughts on (and connections to) today's "My Utmost for His Highest" devotion

"God is not concerned about our plans; He does not say--Do you want to go through this bereavment; this upset? He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women; or they are making us more captious and fault-finding, more insistent upon our own way. The things that happen either make us fiends, or they make us saints; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God" (from My Utmost for His Highest, May 22).

This reminds me of something Harold Best says in his book, Unceasing Worship (for publication info, please click on the link to the book). He begins by saying, basically, that "nobody does not worship," that we are--all of us--pouring ourselves out to, or bowing down and serving, some thing or some one, and that Christian worship is redeemed worship, redeemed outpouring. But then he goes on to say that what we pour ourselves into is what is shaping us: "Everyone is growing up toward some measure of fullness, whether of righteousness or evil" (18). And that is what reminds me of the above quote from MUFHH. "The things that happen [I would also add 'and how we respond to them'] either make us fiends, or they make us saints."

This also reminds me of something C.S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters: "The safest road to hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

***

Interestingly enough, today's Scripture from MUFHH is John 17:21. Jesus is praying to the Father and asking for the disciples to be one as He and the Father are one. Chambers seems to interpret this as each of us individually identifying with Christ in His suffering (see the full text of today's devotion here) or giving up our "independence" to trust in God and follow Jesus. And these things need to be done. But what about giving up our independence not only to depend on God, but also to live together as God's people, doing God's work?

What is Jesus saying about the community and close fellowship that we are to have and share and treasure together as believers? Chambers thoughts concerning the will of God and personal holiness (quoted above) still make sense, even when applied to the People of God living together in unity, the body of Christ growing up into Him who is the Head (Ephesians 4:15).

seek what first?

To see the full text of today's MUFHH devotion, click here. But here's today's Scripture and a short quote from the devotion:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

"Immediately we look at these words of Jesus, we find them the most revolutionary statement human ears ever listened to. 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God'" (Oswald Chambers, MUFHH, May 21st).

I grew up in church. One of the songs we sang--in something called "Junior Church" (if you grew up in the church, did your church have one of these?)--was Seek Ye First. Basically, the song was Matthew 6:33 put to a melody (which is, by the way, a great way to memorize Scripture. A guest speaker at the Campus House recently mentioned that there was a fuzzy line between reading aloud and singing the Bible in the early church.).

I mention this song, and Junior Church, because you can sing something and get into the music and forget about what you're actually singing sometimes. That is, if you're like me, you can forget about the lyrics. I'm glad that this is not true for everyone. I've asked people, informally studying this, and I get mixed responses. Some people are lyrics people and some people are music people and others are both. But myself, being a music person, sang "Seek ye-ee first/the-uh ki-ingdom of God..." at a tenderly young age without bothering to think too much about what I was singing.

But, when Chambers calls this phrase revolutionary, it immediately gets my attention. I can recognize that he's right and I repent for singing this so many years without wrestling with Jesus' words.

Chambers says that, upon hearing Jesus' words to seek first His kingdom, even the most spiritually-minded of us argue: "But I must live; I must make so much money; I must..." fill in the blank.

What am I "seeking first"?

hmmm...

Okay, in one of my first posts concerning MUFHH I mentioned being consistently inspired through reading it.

However, I should also mention that many times I find myself disagreeing with what Chambers says, or at least questioning his writing. Take a passage from today's devotion and I'll show you what I mean:

"There are certain things we must not pray about--moods for instance. Moods never go by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its seat in the physical condition, not in the moral."

Hold it right there! Pause. Time out.

Of course, I may not be understanding this right, but (if he's saying what I think he's saying) I think he's saying two things that I disagree with...

1. that we should not pray for God to change a mood. Should it be conquered by...our own will power?...strength? I like the thought, "...moods go by kicking." That sounds pretty sweet, but I'm not sure I agree with Chambers on this one. However, I would agree that if we pray for God to change a certain mood (let's say anxious or worried), we need to be willing to respond to the Spirit's work in us to change this mood. When I was young I would pout from time to time. Usually pouting includes acting a certain way--say, angry or sad--for much longer than you really are. It never failed, usually my mom would try to get me to break a smile (tickling was usually effective when I was tempted to pout). So, I'm saying that's similar to praying about a feeling: God has the power to move us from one mood to another. But are we resistant to His prompting? And if we are, then I think that's where it requires the strength that can only come from God to kick that mood.
2. that only moral conditions should be prayed about (implied from the end of the quote?). I don't have anything more to say on this one. Suffice it to say, again, that I disagree.

***

The Scripture for today is from Luke 21:19. I'm pretty sure this is the Scripture quoted by the bass player in the movie, That Thing You Do: "In your patience possess ye your souls." (Or, reading it from the NIV: "By standing firm you will gain life." This passage deserves further study.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

The title of this post is Romans 8:35. This is also the Scripture text of the day in My Utmost for His Highest (a.k.a. MUFHH after today's entry): "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

Chambers begins by commenting, "God does not keep a man [or woman] immune from trouble; He says--"I will be with him in trouble."

Whatever we are facing, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is convinced of this (see Romans 8:28-39 for context). Why? There are at least two foundational reasons that strike me this morning.

1. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) And so God's love for us is not affected by what we have to offer or our current emotional state or anything else, because it depends on what He has already accomplished through Jesus.
2. His continual presence with us.

concerning "careful unreasonableness"

I enjoy the titles for each of the daily devotions in My Utmost for His Highest (see posts below for the current purpose of this blog). Having read the short Oswald Chambers bio available here, I wonder if these titles were his own work or that of his wife? Whatever the case, the titles are usually very creative and even provocative at times. The title for today's bio is no exception: "Careful Unreasonableness."

The Scripture text for today is Matthew 6:26, 28 (though it is, as usual, very helpful to read more of the surrounding context). This is from the "Sermon on the Mount." Jesus is teaching His disciples not to worry about what they will eat or drink or about what they will wear, or even to worry about tomorrow. He gives the birds and flowers as examples. Chambers takes up this theme:

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they simply are!," he writes. He goes on, "So often we mar God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious efforts to be consistent and useful."

He's using the Matthew 6 passage to talk about spiritual growth. I confess that I've tended to apply this too shallowly to my own life. "These are great things to remember to keep from worrying or getting anxious," I would think to myself. "Must be good teaching, though it doesn't seem very practical not to worry... "

But praise God that His word penetrates deeper than that (see Hebrews 4:12-13)! Chambers reminds me that worry and anxiety are really spiritual conditions (What isn't spiritual? That is, what happens in my life that doesn't affect me spiritually? What decisions or choices can I make that don't ultimately have an affect on my spiritual condition one way or the other?). And Jesus teaches me to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."

By "all these things" it seems like He's speaking of the things that I don't usually think of as spiritual, food and clothes for example. But Gluttony has ruined more than one soul and Vanity is a poor god.

Kingdom seeking and righteous living should be first, Jesus says. Father will provide the rest.

"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Phil. 2:12-14).

turning our backs on glory

"On the Mount of Ascension the Transfiguration is completed. If Jesus had gone to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone; He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mount to identify Himself with fallen humanity" (quotes will be taken from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest unless otherwise noted).

See the link in the post below to read the full text of My Utmost for His Highest from May 17.

"He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mount to identify Himself with fallen humanity." This line struck me hard this morning. It's always like that, a particular line or phrase, a connection that I've never made before.

I am reminded that, "...being in very nature God, [Jesus] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6, NIV). And we see that ("through eyes of faith") on the Mount of Transfiguration with Chambers' help.

Sit with Peter and James and John and see Jesus on this mountain top. The Sons of Thunder awestruck by the lightning glory of the Son of God and Son of Man. Sit with them and hear the voice of the Father: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!"

See Jesus in all His glory, and all the glory of the presence of God in the cloud and smoke that surrounded them. As if the fabric that separates earth from heaven has grown thin and a window is now open revealing the holiness of Jesus' nature and the truth of His relationship to the Father.

And just as quickly as it begins, it's over. The disciples are left in a posture of humility, facedown on the ground. But it is Jesus who will continue to show them the very meaning of humility. He touches them. "Get up. Don't be afraid," He says. And, with that, "He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mount to identify Himself with fallen humanity," as Chambers reminded me this morning.

Jesus "...made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:7-11, NIV).

Of course, that same attitude, that willingness to turn my back on glory and become servant of all should characterize my thoughts, words, and actions as Jesus' disciple. The "glory" that I turn my back on might be different from the glory you are called to leave behind, but the attitude is the same, and the attitude is Christ Jesus' attitude. We find the meaning of humility by attempting to imitate Him.


p.s. If you aren't familiar with what happened on the "Mount of Transfiguration" (and that's okay, but I think there are few other more mysterious and intriguing passages, even on a purely literary level) check out Mark 9:2-13, Matthew 17:1-13, Luke 9:28-36. Also, you could click here to listen to a sermon I delivered in January for further teaching on the Transfiguration.

Oswald Chambers bio, read My Utmost for His Highest online

you can read My Utmost for His Highest (at no cost) here. you can also view an interesting bio of Oswald Chambers here.

journaling through "My Utmost for His Highest"

for now, this blog is going to be more of an online journal. my rationale:

1. i've been reading through Oswald--that's a great name isn't it?--Chambers' now classic work, My Utmost for His Highest. i don't know how long i've known about this book. probably ever since i was, proverbially speaking, "knee high to a grasshopper." but, for some reason, i resisted reading it until this past january. i am consistently inspired by it, and so i wanted to write down some thoughts as inspiration comes. i want to be able to remember what i've read from day to day. i find that writing about something (and this experience might be true of yourself as well?) is a great way to come to a deeper understanding of it.
2. my hope is that, if anyone reads these posts, they might be directed to Chambers' book or--even better--to the biblical texts from which his devotions arise.