Monday, April 21, 2008

I Would Not Have Sinned, Except for the Law

Some Southern Baptist leaders believe that the way to stop believers from straying into sin, or to keep church members living lives consistent with personal holiness, or to establish churches with a worthy 'Baptist Identity,' is to lay out for Christians 'the law' of proper behavior. Following the articulation of 'the law' (whatever it may be from church to church), comes the use of threats (see picture below) to keep Christians from violating the laws of the church. In this manner, some Southern Baptist leaders seem to feel comfortable that they have done all they can to perserve the purity of God's kingdom. However, in my experience, such behavior exhibited by church leadership contradicts the beauty of the gospel as an internal change of heart. To demand conformity through outward pressure is a tactic of religious cults, not Christian grace.
Years ago a young man named Eric was driving by the church I pastored in Tulsa. He had a pistol underneath the front seat, an open container of beer in the cup holder, and was on his way to an open field where he would drink himself to drunkenness in order to have the courage to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. As he drove south on Sheridan Road he saw our church sign that said, "Prepare to Meet Thy God." The words so rattled him he turned into our parking lot and prayed, "God, if you are sending me a sign, let someone be inside this church to help me." The Lord answered his prayer.

Eric came into our offices and our Worship Pastor began to talk with him about knowing Christ. I was soon called and within an hour we had the privilege of seeing the Holy Spirit regenerate Eric's soul, with the end result of Eric trusting Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord. The transformation was enormous. Eric was excited about his new life in Christ and when we explained the purpose of baptism, Eric committed to be in church Sunday to make known his faith in Christ through believer's baptism. We explained that at the conclusion of my sermon, he would need to come down the aisle to be introduced to our church and he would be baptized later that night.

Sunday morning came and I closed the message with an invitation to make public the work God had done, or was doing, in the listeners' lives. No sooner did our Worship Pastor begin singing when Eric came running down the aisle, and in King James language, he came walking and leaping and praising God. When the appropriate time came I introduced him to our church. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to a young man who this week was intent on killing himself, but God has intervened. This is Eric . . ." As I was speaking to the crowd I turned to look at Eric and to my horror, I saw Eric was wearing a Budweiser Beer T-Shirt that said, "Budweiser, King of Beers."

I knew some of the deacons would be upset. Sure enough, after church one of the older deacons came up to me and said, "Pastor, did you talk to Eric?" Acting ignorant, though knowing full well what he meant, I said, "About what?" "Did you tell him he ought not be wearing that beer t-shirt in church? It ain't appropriate."

I took a deep breath and said, "No, I didn't. He has just come to faith in Christ. If we begin to tell him what he can't do, shouldn't do, ought not do, etc . . . we quench the work of the Spirit by imposing a law. If we were to speak to him about the t-shirt, and he were to stop wearing it, he will confuse regulations of a religion with the reality of a relationship. Let's love him, get to know him, and encourage him - but let's stay away from the 'should nots' of religion and give time for his relationship with Christ to develop."

I can't say my deacon fully understood what I was saying, but to his credit, he listened quietly - and walked away without a response. We baptized Eric that night and the next Sunday Eric came to Sunday school wearing a 'Coors' t-shirt. The next week he came with a Michelob Light t-shirt. The following week he came to church wearing another beer t-shirt.

Eric was a beer t-shirt collector.

It was not easy staying quiet. Many were tempted to say something. I might have said something if the Bible addressed the subject, but nowhere in the sacred text does it say, "Thou shalt not wear a beer t-shirt to church." Eric himself had no idea that some people might be 'offended' at his clothing, and when a handful of church members came to me to talk about Eric's Sunday dress, I asked them if they were personally offended with this new Christian wearing beer t-shirts. Those who spoke to me about it, to a person, never said they were personally offended, but there was some, nebulous person 'out there' who might be. I told them when they could introduce me to this mysterious, offended person, whom I had not yet met, I would talk to Eric. Until then, our love for Eric would cause us to love him where he was in his walk with Christ.

About the fifth Sunday Eric came to church wearing a new t-shirt. It was a t-shirt with a Christian logo. He had found a Christian t-shirt store and, prompted by the Spirit, Eric purchased several t-shirts with a Christian message. That Sunday he had traded in his "Budweiser: King of Beers" t-shirt for one that said, "Jesus Christ: King of Kings." Christ had Eric's heart. The change that occurred happened within. There was not the demand for conformity imposed upon this young Christian by a Southern Baptist congregation, but rather, there was the powerful, internal work of the Spirit within the heart of a man that experienced the love, acceptance and patience of a people who themselves had tasted of the grace of God.

Because many Southern Baptist churches, contrary to historic Baptist principles, are often filled with unregenerate, lost people, Southern Baptist pastors are often tempted to impose LAW on the congregation to keep them in line. However, when churches recognize the beauty and power of the Holy Spirit to tranform lives, and receive people into membership whom the Spirit has already given new life in Christ (and not those convinced to 'join the church' through manipulation), then we pastors can simply trust in "He who began a good work". May God give us the necessary grace to resist the temptation to precede the internal work of the Spirit in His people. Patience allows us to feel the excitement of seeing the beautiful, internal work of the Spirit which trumps any work of the law.

In His Grace,

Wade

207 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 207 of 207
ezekiel said...

Joe W,

"Is it logical that the Creator of "good" things (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25; Col 1:16), would exert His supernatural energy to bring into existence an intoxicating wine which Scripture condemns as "a mocker" and "a brawler" (Prov 20:1) and which the Holy Spirit has chosen as the symbol of divine wrath (Rev. 14 and Rev. 20)?"

Short answer, yes. Why don't you give us the scriptures where wine is a symbol of divine good? What do you say when you observe the Lord's Supper? Several have commented that all that is refered to is the cup. What is in it? Divine mercy? What about all the scripture where wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit? Do you really practice partaking of a cup of divine wrath?


God creates all things and here, He seems pretty capable of creating a beverage to make man's heart merry...

Psalm 104
1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;

3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; Who maketh the clouds his chariot; Who walketh upon the wings of the wind;

4 Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers;

5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever.

6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains.

7 At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away

8 (The mountains rose, the valleys sank down) Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.

9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; That they turn not again to cover the earth.

10 He sendeth forth springs into the valleys; They run among the mountains;

11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild asses quench their thirst.

12 By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation; They sing among the branches.

13 He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.

14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man; That he may bring forth food out of the earth,

15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, And oil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengtheneth man's heart.

There is that bread and wine again.

We are told by Jesus himself that it is not what goes in, but what comes out of our mouths that defile a person.

Matt 15: 1 Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying,

2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

4 For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God;

6 he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition.

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.

9 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

10 And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

11 Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.

12 Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?

13 But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up.

14 Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.

15 And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable.

16 And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?

17 Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.


19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:

20 these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man.

Do you preach as vehemently against those who would cuss as those that drink wine? Better yet, would cussing keep me from joining you in mission work or any cooperative work for the Kingdom of Christ?

Railings, murder, false witness...
Now that is realy something to divide over. Give me the guy that doesn't do verse 19 any day. I will take all those bibbers and we will change the world...

You would be better served to preach Christ's message rather than your own. It is what comes out, not what goes in.

ezekiel said...

Joe W,

You have repeatedly told us you were stubborn and your posting has proven it. I leave you with the following scripture. Just as applicable today as the day it was written.

Ezekiel 2
1And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.

2And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

3And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.

4For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.

5And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

6And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

7And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

8But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

9And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

10And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Note especially that He didn't send Ezekiel to a foreign land, or to speakers of a strange language. He sent him to THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. Romans 9:6-8

There is lamentations, mourning and woe coming. If you will look around you, you will see divisions, cursing, murder, adultery, fornication, idol worship and a whole host of things that we are told over and over shouldn't be there.

We need to get past practicing religion and self righteousness and start preaching Christ and Him risen. Love for God and neighbor. We have over 200 posts here doing nothing but arguing religious rites, traditions and the words of man.

We need so desperately to be preaching Hebrews and 1 John, Romans and Revelations. Preaching it to those among us those professing christians that are not living it or practicing it.

Get out of the rut man, it aint about the drinking, the dancing or the tithing. It is all about sanctification and washing of the WORD.

ezekiel said...

Jake Barker,

Good luck on the cabin! Keep the back door of your store open for the Baptists and you should be fine. :)

Anonymous said...

Ish Engle,

My wife pointed out to me tonight the fact that you wrote... "I really don't like you".

I asked her... "You know what that means don't you?"

She said... "What?"

I said... "I may have to take a half of a baby aspirin to sleep tonight."
:-}

Anonymous said...

Joe W.

Sarcastic and snotty to the end.


That is what I mean by bitter fruit, not Christian fruit.

Anonymous said...

Jake,

Hang in there, buddy. You sound like an interesting guy, one I'd like to get to know (if we just lived a few hundred miles closer). Not all of us Baptists are like "some."

John

Ojalanpoika said...

I've collected the best Christian T-shirts I found in here:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Christian_Shirts.html

Personally, I would prefer those apologetics figures such as Dinoglyfs documented by teh ancient man few thousands years ago. Unfortunately, they are not sold anywhere...

Or do you happen to know a site for "apolo-wear"?

A recent book "Understanding Intelligent Design" by ­William Dembski and Sean McDowell, son of Josh McDowell is now available.
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/understanding-intelligent-design-now-available-at-amazoncom/

The book is geared at Christian young people (junior high and high schoolers) as well as for Church groups (e.g., Sunday Schools) to help get out the word about ID, Intelligent Design. A MOST REVEALING INSIGHT FROM ITS FIRST CHAPTER:

"A few years back, skeptic Michael Shermer wrote a book called
How We Believe. For it he commissioned a poll of thousands of
people. He asked participants why other people believe in God. The
most popular answers focused on religious benefits: God comforts
us, provides the basis for living a moral life, gives purpose to our
lives, and is the source of meaningful religious experiences.
Then Shermer asked participants why they personally believe
in God. The number one answer changed drastically. The most
common response was the design and complexity of the world.
Our natural tendency, it would seem, is to believe the world was
designed."

Confessing Christian,
Pauli.Ojala@gmail.com
evolutionary critic
Biochemist, drop-out so called
(MSci-Master of Sciing)
Helsinki, Finland

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 207 of 207   Newer› Newest»