Jesus is Not a Preference

Radical, chapter 7...finally catching up, & jumping right in.

Platt hit the nail on the head here:

On one hand, many professing Christians have embraced the universalistic idea that religion is merely a matter or preference or opinion and that in the end all religions are fundamentally the same.  People do not have to trust in Christ in order to know God or go to heaven.  Therefore, there is no need to encourage someone else to embrace the truth of Christianity.  On the other hand, while some professing Christians have rejected universalism intellectually, practically they may end up leading universalistic lives.  They claim Christ is necessary for salvation, yet they live their Christianity in silence, as if people around them in the world will indeed be okay in the end without Christ. (142)

In today's world, we place such an importance on not judging others, that we live dangerously close to the line of accepting their religions.  Society tells us to be accepting, but God tells us not to accept any false religion.  We love the people, & continue to be Jesus to them, but under no circumstances are we to accept their God, or make light of the fact that salvation is through Christ alone.

Years ago, I heard a friend say that he would rather someone believe in something rather than nothing.  He'd rather someone be Buddhist, or Hindu, or Muslim than that person be an atheist.  That theory has haunted me ever since then.  If you're not going to believe in Jesus as the Way, Truth, & Life, it doesn't matter what you believe, because you will be judged & you will be found lacking the one thing that is necessary.

This chapter covers what Platt calls the "Seven Truths":

one. All people have knowledge of God.

two. All people reject God.

three. All people are guilty before God.

four. All people are condemned for rejecting God.

five. God has made a way of salvation for the lost.

six. People cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ.

seven. Christ commands the Church to make the Gospel known to all peoples.

I loved how Platt explained that much of humankind views heaven as the default eternal state.  We think that unless we do something really bad, we automatically go to heaven.  

When I read about this, I thought about our judicial system.  Innocent until proven guilty?  That's not how it works with God.  None of us are innocent.  We're all guilty from day one & until we are washed by the blood of Christ, we cannot be innocent.

The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus.  The question, therefore, is not “Can we find God’s will?”  The question is “Will we obey God’s will?” (160)

 All of this just reiterates one thing: Jesus is not a way, but the Way.

Miscellany Monday

one. 

Friday night I went to a little surprise party for my little's birthday!  I love every moment I get to spend with her & am so blessed to have her in my life.  So proud of who she is & who she is becoming.

two. 

Then Friday night ended perfectly, a phone date with MCKINLIE (she says I always refer to her as "this girl," so using her name this time).  I don't think there's much better than hearing her talk with such excitement about her week at camp.  Can't wait to hear from my other girls about it.

three. 

Then Saturday, my friend Sara came.  We did some exploring downtown, a little shopping, dinner with Cait's parents (have I mentioned that I love living near them?), & then had to stop at my new favorite place [it could be dangerous that I live about 1 minutes from here].

four.

Sunday included Cait & Sara for lunch, [& maybe dessert at Menchie's...], & then an afternoon of watching old Army Wives on Netflix & getting ready for my last Bible study with my girls (via Skype) on Wednesday.

five.

Just finishing up the last chapter of Radical.  SO good.  I know I've gone on & on about it, but I don't get into books like this.  Give me Christian fiction any day, but I have a hard time reading things like this.  Not at all with this book.  Can't wait to finish de-briefing the book with you friends.  One of my favorite parts that I just read (& plenty more later):

In the Gospel we have seen the depth of our inadequacy and the extent of our inability  to accomplish anything of eternal value apart from the power of God.  We are a planning, strategizing, implementing people, yet radical obedience to Christ requires that we be a praying people.

-David Platt, Radical, p. 188

six.

I know it's Sunday, but I'm already looking forward to next weekend!  Going home Friday for the first time since I moved.  Friday I'll see my dad's side of the family (& all the little cousins!), Saturday I'll go with my dad to work on the church building (can't WAIT to see how much is done now!), & that night we'll go to my mom's parents for Father's Day with them on Sunday.  Busy weekend, but so excited.  Annnnd, I'll get my new kitten finally!

Happy Monday, bloggy friends.

A long overdue Radical post

With all the chaos of moving & starting my new job & having to reschedule Bible study twice, I haven’t had a chance to blog about Radical lately.  So, thoughts on chapter 6.  And I'm sorry if this gets lengthy, but it was a really good chapter, so hang with me.

I think this chapter is very convicting for just about anybody.  How much is enough?  Or how much is too much?  How does compassion exist in the materialism of this world?

…if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to question just how effective we will be in declaring the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth.  More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all. (111)

Ouch.

Does this mean that we are to have nothing?  Are we to live as though we are destitute?  Not necessarily.  Jesus says He came so that we might have an abundant life, a full life [John 10:10].  This includes God blessing us with things.  Things that we don't need, but things that we enjoy.  However, this does not mean that people who have more are more blessed or more loved by God...it's just life.

Either way, God calls us all to be good stewards of what we do have.  I feel like that word steward is one we hear a lot in church, at least when it comes to money...but what does it really mean?  The literal definition is "a person who manages another's property or financial affairs."  What we have isn't really ours in the first place...we're managing what God has blessed us with, & should manage it in a way that brings the most GLORY to Him.

Much error would occur if someone walked away from this chapter thinking that money and possessions are necessarily bad; they are actually good gifts from the hand of God intended for our enjoyment and the spread of His glory. (112)

A few other verses you can look at on this subject:

Hebrews 13:5, Acts 20:35, Titus 2:7, Leviticus 19:9-10, Titus 1:7-9, 2 Timothy 2:15

Jesus cares about how we spend His money...just look at the story of the "rich young ruler".  

Jesus was launching a direct attack on the sense of security and stability this man had in this world. (122)

I think Jesus is going to ask for whatever you're least willing to give.  Why?  Because that's what separates us from Him.  It's not that Jesus wants us to be unhappy...it's that we don't understand how happy we could be by relinquishing every earthly thing to Him.

 I loved this story that Platt told to demonstrate:

A wealthier man in our faith family came to my office after we had been studying the story of the rich young man.  He sat down, looked at me, and said point-blank, "I think you're crazy for saying some of the things you're saying."  Then he paused, and I wasn't sure what direction this conversation was going to go.  He continued,  "But I think you're right.  And so now I think I'm crazy for thinking some of the things I'm thinking."  For the next few minutes, he described how he was selling his large house and had decided to give away many of his other possessions.  He talked about the needs he wanted to invest his resources in for the glory of Christ.  Then he looked at me through tears in his eyes and said,  "I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise.  But then I realize there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.'  I'm confident that God will take care of me. " (123)

 Later Platt points out that as Americans, we are rich.  Whether we feel like we are or not, most of our culture is a luxury when compared with what many in the world have.  Have you ever seen this site?  Enter a salary & this shows you what percentage you are in.  When I am in the top 7% of the richest people in the world, that just shows how much we as Americans have.  That's unbelievable.  I'm 24, working at my first real job after college, single...& just on that little income, I am RICH.

Being blessed more means being about to give more.  We will not give sacrificially & then be miserable because of what  we might be missing out on.  That's just not how our God works.

There is enough of everything in the world.  God wouldn't make a world for us to live in where He didn't provide.  The problem isn't found in the amounts of money, food, water, etc; the problem is in the distribution.  You see, we were all meant to share.  This isn't a plan B that we're putting into action because God didn't create enough.  This is His original plan.  This is part of why we give our first to God [Deuteronomy 18:4].

If you have the book, read (or re-read) pages 132-133.  If not, I'm going to paraphrase for you:

If we're living out this radical Gospel, there will be fruit.

Meeting needs on earth is primarily for God's glory, secondarily for the people.  It can't be about feeling sorry for them.  Anyone can have compassion on people & help them out.  As Christians, we are called to take care of His children for HIS glory.

His plan of enough brings glory to Him.

The Megastrategy of Jesus

Ok, finally...thoughts on Radical chapters 4 & 5.  So...just going to dive right in.

[Find other chapters here: 1, 2, 3.]

...Jesus commands us to go.  He has created each of us to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and I propose that anything less than radical devotion to this purpose is unbiblical Christianity. (64)

I didn't dwell on this the first few times I read that sentence, but as I just typed that, the word created really jumped out at me.  We are not only called commanded to go, that's what we were created to do.  

We live in a church culture that has a dangerous tendency to disconnect the grace of God from the glory of God.  Our hearts resonate with the idea of enjoying God's grace.  We bask in sermons, conferences, and on books that exalt a grace centering on us.  And while the wonder of grace is worthy of our attention, if that grace is disconnected from its purpose, the sad result is a self-centered Christianity that bypasses the heart of God. (70)

This is one of the most frustrating things to me...not that I'm not as guilty as every other person on this earth.  It's so easy, though, to want to call on God when we need Him, have Him patch up our messes, & then go on our merry way.  That makes it seem that He owes us something...that we are somehow deserving of that grace.  Let's set this straight: none of us deserve even a bit of His grace, yet He took on all of our sins to give us more than we can possibly understand.  Why?  GLORY.  Not so that we can feel better about ourselves, boast a clean conscience, & live lives centered on ourselves, but so that we can recognize our sins, boast only in Him, & die to ourselves to live for Him.

Ok...this is long.  But it's truth that needs to be told & is one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

"God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity.  Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?  God loves me.  Me.  Christianity's object is me. [...]  The message of biblical Christianity is not "God loves me, period," as if we were the object of our own faith.  The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make Him - His ways, His salvation, His glory, and His greatness - known among all nations."  Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around Him.  We are not the end of the Gospel; God is.  [...]  Indeed, we are not the center of His universe.  God is at the center of His universe, and everything He does ultimately revolves around Him.  (70-71)

This is not an easy thing to hear.  But I think it is one of the most important Truths that is overlooked, avoided, & ignored by many.

On missions...

Where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the church?  [...]  Jesus Himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; He has created us and commanded us to go to all nations.  We have taken this command though, and reduced it to a calling - something that only a few people receive.  (72-73)

Every saved person this side of heaven owes the Gospel to every lost person this side of hell.  We owe Christ to the world - to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person.  We are in debt to the nations.  (74-75)

A majority of individuals supposedly saved from eternal damnation by the Gospel are now sitting back and making excuses for not sharing that Gospel with the rest of the world.  (75)

We seem to think of missions as a 10-day trip to Africa.  Missions is not just a trip; it is a lifestyle - one that we are commanded to.  

We also seem to believe that all missions occurs outside of our country, or even outside of our own communities, but that's not true.  Jesus commands us in Matthew 28 to go to all nations, the United States included.  There are people here who need Jesus, just like there are people in every other nation on earth who are starving for the Gospel.

Who told us that we had to choose to have a heart for the United States or a heart for the world?  Based on the purpose of God we've seen in Scripture, shouldn't every Christian's heart be ultimately consumed with how we can make God's glory known in all the world?  (76)

God has designed a radically global purpose for your life.  (83)

So how do we do missions?

The megastrategy of Jesus: make disciples. (90)

 [via]

I think that one of the most beautiful aspects of Jesus' life is that He spent the majority of His time with twelve men.  12.  He lived life with these men.  He knew them intimately.  He knew what they gave up to follow Him.  He knew the dreams that they'd thrown aside.  He knew the children that they left at home.  He knew their finances, & how they struggled for this decision.  He knew their struggles & their shortcomings, as well as their greatest strengths.  He knew their unspoken sorrows & their deepest joys.  This is discipleship.  And this is how God intends for us to go to the nations.

It [discipleship] involves intentionally taking the Gospel to people where they live, work, and play.  (93-94)

This does not mean dragging people to church.  Yes, a community of believers is a vital part of Christianity, but most people are not going to receive salvation through a sermon, but by seeing your real, genuine walk with Christ in everyday life.  It's messy.  It's uncomfortable.  But it's right.

The "Great Commission" has never meant more to me than it does today.  We fret over trying to find our "calling," or searching for God's "will."  I believe He gives it to us right here.  We are saved so that we can multiply the Kingdom.  This is our purpose.

Thoughts?

 

less of me

This week's thoughts on Radical are not as in-depth as most have been/will be.  

*if you're just jumping in, I lead a youth girls Bible Study & right now we're reading Radical by David Platt.  Each week, I'm writing about one of the chapters & would love to hear your thoughts on it, whether you've read/are reading the book or not.  [These posts can be found here.]

Here's the main thing I took away from chapter 3:

Anything God does "for us," is ultimately for HIM & about HIM. 

God uses the most unlikely, ill-equipped, stubborn people to get BIG glory for Himself.  

This is the design of God among His people.  He is giving unlikely people His power so it is clear who deserves the glory for the success that takes place. (53)

God loves to use a seemingly impossible situation.  Because that means ONLY He could make it possible.

Exhibit A: Joshua & the battle of Jericho

[which I can't even think about without singing this song]

So Joshua & his men need to take over Jericho as part of getting to the Promised Land?  Orders from God: march around the city a few times carrying the Ark of the Covenant, blow on some trumpets, & yell really loud.  Really, God?  If I were Josh, I'd have a hard time even approaching my men with those orders.  But God used these ridiculous-sounding instructions + some obedient people to gain glory.  Why?  There's no way that would work if it weren't God-ordained.  Pretty cool.

Platt says this:

In direct contradiction to the American dream, God actually delights in exalting our inability.  He intentionally puts His people in situations where they come face to face with their need for Him.  In the process He powerfully demonstrates His ability to provide everything His people need in ways they could never have mustered up or imagined.  And in the end, He makes much of His own name. (47) 

We hear Philippians 4:13 all the time.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That's great.  Makes you feel empowered, right?  He helps us do all things because it shines the glory on Him.

Ever since I had that epiphany where I finally got it in my head that God is all about Himself & that that's a good thing, I see everything differently.  A few years ago, that verse would just make me feel warm & fuzzy...kind of like a God-powered super-girl.  Still makes me feel that way...but not at all because I'm great, but because HE is.  Platt says that, while the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God. (47)

In a nutshell...

...I've never felt better about being so incredibly small & being used by an infinitely HUGE God.  There's nothing or no one in the world that can make you feel so good about being made less.

the same Power that conquered the grave lives in me.

Gospel: Ready, GO.

Usually at Bible Study, I feel like I blab on & on, with a few welcomed interjections from a few girls.  This week, I felt like we really discussed something together, maybe for the first time.  We were all involved in the conversation & all had input & I think we were all challenged by it.  And I absolutely love that.

This is the thing we ended up focusing on most: explain the Gospel in three sentences or less.  Ready, go.

{...}

That's kind of a tall order.  And one we should definitely all be able to fulfill.  But can we?

Some of the last words Jesus left with us were about making disciples.  How do we intend to make disciples without actually knowing what we're supposed to be teaching them?   

This is what David Platt has to say about it... [this is actually in a later chapter]

If you ask the average Christian sitting in a worship service on a Sunday morning to summarize the message of Christianity, you would most likely hear something along the lines of "The message of Christianity is that God loves me."  Or someone might say, "The message of Christianity is that God loves me enough to send His Son, Jesus, to die for me."
As wonderful as this sentiment sounds, is it biblical?  Isn't it incomplete, based on what we have seen in the Bible?  "God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity.  Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?
God loves me.
Me.
Chistianity's object is me. (70)

 Of course God loves us.  But is that the purpose of His existence?  No way.  

God is HUGE & perfect & sovereign & deserving of ALL glory.  This is primarily what Christianity is about: glorifying Him.  The fact that we receive salvation through that is a perk. 

This is how Platt describes the Gospel:

Fundamentally, the gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to Him.  Yet in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires.  As a result, we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical. (28)

So next week, the girls are supposed to be explaining the Gospel as if they were telling it to someone who knows nothing of Jesus or Christianity.

Here's my take on it:

God's plan from the beginning was to glorify Himself, the only One worthy of glory.  He sent His Son, Jesus as the only way to be reconciled to God through faith in Him.  Through Jesus' death & resurrection, we may be washed clean, made new, & can glorify Him for all eternity.  Our purpose on Earth is to magnify Him so that all people will see Him & turn to Him.

Some of the main verses that I'd look to to explain the Gospel:

2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 14:6, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 4:10-12, 1 John 5:20, 2 Timothy 2:9-10, & of course, John 3:16 [however, Christianity in its entirety cannot be explained through this one sentence, as we so often want to believe...if so, why would God have bothered to give us so much more of His Word?]

So what about you?  How would you explain the Gospel?

Radical Obedience

When I've mentioned Radical before (which I realize that I've done a lot...sorry...kind of), a good many of you have mentioned that you've read it, or are currently reading it.  

So can I make you my own personal book club?  Ok?  Thanks.  

Each week after I do a chapter with my high school Bible Study girls, I'm going to post on here.  Thoughts, favorite parts, questions, prompts, etc.  I'd love for your input as well.

So, week one...here goes.

My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus’ words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to Him…satisfaction in our lives and success in the church are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus. (3)

 This is so true for me.  I just read this last night (it's way later in the book, but it applies...); in talking about searching for God's will in our lives...

The answer is clear.  The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus.  The question, therefore, is not 'Can we find God's will?'  The questions is "Will we obey God's will?' (160)

 I have some more to say concerning that quote, but I'll wait until we actually get to that chapter.  Back to chapter one...

…we don’t want to believe it.  We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives.  So we rationalize these passages away…we are starting to redefine Christianity.  We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist Him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.  A nice, middle-class, American Jesus…But do you realize what we are doing at this point?  We are molding Jesus into our image...and the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible.  Instead we may be worshiping ourselves. (13)

 Have you thought about this?  The very way that we picture Jesus is American.  

Reality check: Jesus was not American.  

He was not white, with a clean, neatly trimmed beard & a white robe that looks like it'd just been bleached. 

We want to make Jesus fit into the American Dream, instead of throwing the American Dream out the window & transforming to look more like Him.  And that transformation requires radical obedience.

I'll end with these two quotes for today.

Do we really believe He is worth abandoning everything for? (18)

You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them…The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response. (20-21)

images: 1, 2, 3