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Tuesday, 31 December 2013
THE TYRANNY OF ADVICE COLUMN CHRISTIANITY, Resurgance
HOW TO NOT FIX YOUR PROBLEMS WITH NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
I saw a commercial once (at 2 a.m.) that said I have to do whatever it takes to “actualize my best me.” Jargon aside, it makes sense, really. Doing results in being. Cause and effect. Want six-pack abs? Just buy the right product and give your new, healthy lifestyle 110% for 10 weeks and maybe you’ll see results. (Phew, I guess it’s time to get to work on those resolutions …) It makes sense to assume that doing something will produce some change. But a personal makeover obsession won’t do one bit of good when it comes to fixing the human condition.
When you feel defeated by sin, burnt out by expectations, and discouraged by your inability to get it together, the last thing you need is “good advice.” So I don’t have any new advice for you. But I do have a bit of helpful hyperbole: Advice is tyranny. Okay, that’s a little over the top. But there’s a reason for the overstatement.
SPIRITUAL SUCCESS IN 4 EASY STEPS
Advice is fine as far as it goes. Occasionally people get it together and take the 2 a.m., six-pack abs advice. But spiritually speaking, advice won’t do you one iota of good. In fact, it may make things worse.
Christians often make the mistake of translating obedience to God’s Law as the means by which we gain God’s acceptance.
There is a spiritual principle here. If we zoom out to 40,000 feet and consider God’s will for people (his Law), we see that ultimately, his Law mirrors back to us our failures and try as we might, we simply can’t live up to it. God’s Law isn’t the problem—it’s good and holy. The problem is our indwelling sin and our inability to keep that holy Law.
Unfortunately, Christians often make the mistake of translating obedience to God’s Law as the means by which we gain God’s acceptance. This creates a whole host of problems that often ends in guilt-ridden, spiritual burnout. Over time, some clue into this bait-and-switch and bail from the church altogether knowing they’ll never add up. Some are more resilient and continue to beat their heads against the wall. Whatever the case, if acceptance before God hinges on spiritual achievement, we’re going to need some serious help. This is where Christian-y steps-to-spiritual-success advice comes in.
The list might go a little something like this:
- Make sure to have a daily quiet time.
- Join a Christian club and get to work.
- Pray more.
- Do more volunteerism.
The problem with this list is that it presupposes that with the right amount of effort, we can please God. But how much effort is enough? How does God weigh a person’s good and bad actions. What if all that effort wasn’t enough?
And this is how it goes. Advice meant to “help” will play a switcheroo on you and cause the kind of anxiety that keeps someone up at night watching bad Ab Buster infomercials. See what I mean? Tyranny. But I’ve got some good news that will help you get a better night’s sleep.
If you are a Christian, God is pleased with you because of what Jesus has already done. To be a Christian is to be united to Jesus in faith, which means God sees Jesus’ moral record, not your checkered one. When we really get that, then our bullet point list becomes a grateful, worshipful response from the heart, rather than a list of Christian duties. You don’t have to have devotional time. You get to. You don’t have to do acts of Christian service. You get to. See the difference?
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
Our dutiful checklists are intuitive. Punishments and rewards based on good (or bad) behavior is plain sense. What we don’t get—what we have to hear over and over—is the something-for-nothing of the gospel.
Jesus has made peace between us and God once and for all. And we benefit from that, for free. We need to be told again and again and again that our sin is forgiven, and that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. And sometimes, we just need to get the attention off of ourselves, and meditate on unmerited grace!
For those with tortured consciences, know that, as you come to Jesus, you get welcome, not condemnation. For the overachievers in the crowd, you can forget the extreme spiritual makeover, and know that all the doing meant to gain you acceptance has already been done.
The answer is in Jesus, not you.
You’re in good company: I’m often self-involved and need to hear this as much as the next guy. So when I realize I’m off kilter (which is often!) I read Ephesians 1 again to get refocused. So take a moment and read this. Read it slowly, and let it sink in.
Get that? If you are in Christ, you are:
- Blessed with every spiritual blessing
- Chosen before the foundation of the world
- Holy and blameless before Christ
- Adopted as sons and daughters
- Redeemed through his blood
- Forgiven of your trespasses
Your spiritual striving didn’t accomplish your in Christian-ness. And after you came to Christ, and screwed everything up, he didn’t let go. Before you were born, before you thought a thought, and before you felt the gnawing guilt of not living a fully transformed Christian life, you were chosen, loved, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven. Period.
CHUCKING ADVICE COLUMN CHRISTIANITY IN EXCHANGE FOR GOOD NEWS
That first part of Saint Paul’s letter is an elated, breathless, gotta-wipe-the-sweat-off-his-brow-with a-hanky-Pentecostal riff filled to the brim with the stuff that we really need.
Do you see it? The answer is in Jesus, not you. He’s the man who lived the life you have not lived and died the death you should have died so that you don’t have to live for you. Hallelujah, the pressure is off!
Thanks be to God, Jesus inverts the logic of both the spiritual overachiever’s aspirations as well as the dejected defeatist’s commiserations. In Christ both are already lavished with forgiveness, blessing, election, and blamelessness. God doesn’t bank on you to make good on all that advice; Jesus already accomplished perfection. Now your life gets to be a joyful response of gratitude!
So, Christian, you have permission to forget about what Advice Column Christianity is trying to sell you. Your gut has been right all along: the stick and carrot of spiritual advice is tyranny. We’ve got really-and-truly good news. You don’t have to experience life transformation to be loved. You’re already loved in Christ.
Ordinary Christians in the Hands of the Extra-Ordinary God. Part 1:
Ephesians 3:10-12 &; 20 &; 21 ESVUK
10 so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places 11. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord 12, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him…………………20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us 21, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
I love the Church, I think it’s amazing; I love Jesus more and more each day and love looking at, reading and studying His written Word the Bible. and I love being a part of His amazing Church, When you think about it That the Church belongs to Jesus and His written Word the Bible explains to us how to live our lives as Christians who are the people who make up the Church, it can revolutionise your love for the Church and our Saviour.
I was raised in a Christian Home and both my dad and my late mum, with my late grandparents give me a love for Scripture, the Church and our Lord and Saviour Jesus, I was * saved or * born again or * accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour (*depends on your theological viewpoint!) when I was 11 in a Children’s Meeting, Easter Monday 1981.
I was raised in a little church in Resolven, which is near Neath, South Wales now called The Resolven Community Church, which is part of a larger grouping also called the Apostolic Church which are part of the Pentecostal Movement here in the UK the others are The Assemblies of God and Elim, both of which are a real blessing to know. I spent the first 13 years of the Christian Life within The Apostolic Church I thank the Lord for the privilege of being raised in that denomination and the grounding and foundation I had there, and the friends I have there today.
Those who know me know I love reading and one of the things I love reading about is the Church. I devour books at the best of times, but I’m always drawn to books about the Church. I’ve been inspired by many godly writers such as Alan Roxburgh, Neil Cole, Floyd McClung, Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton amongst others and have been challenged by what God has said through them. I’ve also been inspired by some great Church Leaders like Keri Jones, Arnallt Morgan, Mark Davies, Roger Aubrey, Mick Walford, Mike & John Sutton-Smith, Geoff Grice and Steve Smith who have through the last 20 years have inspired and challenged me to go on with the things of God, and go deeper with God. I would like this opportunity to say thank you and to Arnallt diolch yn fawr.
When you think about it, there are various models of Church and different perspectives on what the Church are, and what it should or could be. My Spiritual grounding and heritage has been and still is the Pentecostal/Charismatic/ Restoration stream/s which are part of the broader Evangelical Spectrum although I admire and respect those whose Christian path has been or is different from mine.
My background is of someone growing up in the Welsh Valleys, although I now live in the North West of England, when I think of my younger days that Church more or often or not was somewhere we went, rather than something we are part of. I thought of a Physical Building rather than a Spiritual Building, Yes Physical Buildings are important but they serve the Spiritual Building, by the way that’s you and me.
There are countless ways or models of doing and being the Church such as Missional church, Simple church etc. ,etc. there are large churches, small churches, medium churches, full churches, half full churches, empty churches, traditional churches, free churches, Baptist churches, Anglican churches, Pentecostal churches the list can go on and on If you look in your Telephone Directory or search online, how many churches are listed in your City, Town or Village ?, * Note I use the word Church to describe the Church in general and the word church to describe churches, that is in the local church or the church grouping You or I are part of, and isn’t meant to diminish any one church or group of churches *
I don’t believe that there should only be model or type of church, I believe that each model or type of church is equally valid and has an important and relevant part to play in our role to Evangelise those who yet don’t know the Lord, The Lord has called us to work alongside in a sense of co-operation not to compete against each other in attracting unbelievers those who yet don’t know the Lord or have a relationship with Him.
I believe that different models or ways of doing and being the church can reach different types of people. For one person may feel comfortable in for example a more traditional type of church and for another person may feel more comfortable in a more lively church, then someone else may like a more simple way of doing church for example in a smaller setting, then someone may feel more comfortable being amongst a crowd.
Our Lord, Saviour & Redeemer Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16:18b ESVUK.
“I will build my church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail against it.”
The Apostle Paul, says in Ephesians 4:1-7 ESVUK
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift
Our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer give his life for One Church and He’s coming back for One Church, regardless of what part of the Church You or I belong to we are One Church.
In part 2 onwards I will look in more depth into the Book of Ephesians mostly and other books of the Bible to see what it means to be the Church and how we go about being The Church, I’m hoping to expand in more depth at a later point Ordinary Christians in the Hands of the Extra –Ordinary God.
Yours in His Grace
Blair Humphreys
Southport, Merseyside, England
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