Reformed, How I Love To Proclaim It

Ray Ortland has a pastoral word of exhortation for folks like me who are theologically (and happily) Reformed:

I believe in the sovereignty of God, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Solas of the Reformation, I believe that grace precedes faith in regeneration. Theologically, I am Reformed. Sociologically, I am simply a Christian – or at least I want to be. The tricky thing about our hearts is that they can turn even a good thing into an engine of oppression. It happens when our theological distinctives make us aloof from other Christians. That’s when, functionally, we relocate ourselves outside the gospel and inside Galatianism...

Whatever divides us emotionally from other Bible-believing, Christ-honoring Christians is a “plus” we’re adding to the gospel. It is the Galatian impulse of self-exaltation. It can even become a club with which we bash other Christians, at least in our thoughts, to punish, to exclude and to force into line with us.

What unifies the church is the gospel. What defines the gospel is the Bible. What interprets the Bible correctly is a hermeneutic centered on Jesus Christ crucified, the all-sufficient Savior of sinners, who gives himself away on terms of radical grace to all alike. What proves that that gospel hermeneutic has captured our hearts is that we are not looking down on other believers but lifting them up, not seeing ourselves as better but grateful for their contribution to the cause, not standing aloof but embracing them freely, not wishing they would become like us but serving them in love (Galatians 5:13).

Ortland's got me thinking. There are all kinds of other good doctrines and practices that I use to elevate myself above and alienate myself from other genuine believers, if not externally, at least in my heart: the practice of spiritual disciplines (especially the ones I practice); philosophy of ministry (Is your church attractional or missional? I have my doubts about those who aren't like me.); size of church ("I'm not into 'big church' anymore" has come out of my mouth too many times); translation of the Bible (You use what?!); style of worship music...and the list goes on.

I'm reminded of that great hymn "Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!" While the distinctive beliefs and practices that I listed above are legitimate for me to have, I must be careful not to love to proclaim my love for them above the Gospel. Think of how odd it would sound to sing...

Reformed, how I love to proclaim it
Reformed by the blood of the Lamb
Reformed by His infinite mercy
Cal-vi-nist forever I am!

[second verse...sounds even worse]
Mis-sio-nal and so happy in Keller
No language my rapture can tell
I know that the right way to do church
With me doth continually dwell

Too often my heart and life are singing "Reformed, how I love to proclaim it!" or "Missional, how I love to proclaim it!" or "House Church, how I love to proclaim it!" Again, these are good values to have and hold out to others, but if I allow my passion for those things to separate me from brothers and sisters who are truly redeemed and love to proclaim it, then I'm guilty of Galatianism. I need to hear Paul say, "For in Christ Jesus, neither [reformed, missional, house-church, etc.] nor [non-reformed, attractional, big-church, etc.] counts for anything, but only a new creation in whom faith expresses itself through love" (see Galatians 5:6, 6:15).

I want the joy and song of my heart to be about the Father redeeming me by the blood of the Lamb so that "His child and forever I am." But, sadly there are still other counterfeit joys fighting to be my song.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

[HT: Justin Taylor; also read all of Ray Ortland's "Truly Reformed" here.]

Dashboard Confessions: Approval & Acceptance

Back in January I began a series of posts called "Dashboard Confessions" in which I consider how the presence of appetite, anger, anxiety, and other affections function as warning lights on the dashboard of my soul, alerting me to my heart's propensity to try to run on any fuel but Jesus. When I sense one of these affections taking priority in my heart I remember Abba Poeman's wise words of warning: "Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart." When these lights start flashing, I can be sure that I have been giving my heart to something or someone other than the One who said, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" (Isaiah 55:2).

Two of those warning signals, a desperation for approval and acceptance, are closely related and easily confused for one another, so I must deal with them together. When I sense my heart searching for either approval of my performance or for acceptance of my person, then I know I am giving my heart to that which does not satisfy my heart. You see, like everyone else, I long to do something special and to be someone special. God created us in His image to be a community (be someone special) on mission (do something special)...a relationship of rulers who love and serve God, each other, and all that He has made (Genesis 1:26-29, 2:15, 18). So, there is a sense in which I was made to be approved for my performance and accepted as a person. The trouble starts when I seek that approval and acceptance from the wrong source (Jeremiah 2:13).

Have you noticed how Jesus never seemed to be concerned about whether people accepted Him or approved of what He was doing or not doing? His Teflon-like responses to the opinions of others were wonderfully refreshing. Neither criticism nor kudos stuck to Him. Oh, I long to be like Him. So, how did He do that? Perhaps it's because He heard and believed the words that His Father said to and about Him: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 1:11, 9:7; Luke 3:22, 9:35). Just before the two most significant periods of His earthly life (His public ministry and His crucifixion/resurrection/ascension) Jesus heard His Father's words of acceptance and approval. "You are My Son, whom I love. You are accepted. I am pleased with You. You have my approval." All other forms of acceptance and approval pale in comparison to that of the Father. Oh, if only I could live like that. What would my life be like if I truly believed that I had the Father's complete acceptance and convincing approval? Maybe I'd be more like Jesus.

But I do have the Father's acceptance and approval. If by faith I am "in Christ" then I can hear the Father say to me "You are My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased because of Jesus." It all comes back to whether I believe it or not. When I get discouraged because someone is disappointed with my performance or disrespects me as a person, that's a light on the dashboard telling me that my heart under the hood is low on faith in the good news of the Gospel. When moments of praise and popularity lift my spirit and excite my soul more than the love of my Father, that's a warning signal that my heart is getting gummed up with its own glory. These flashing lights remind me that when people are too big in my heart, God is too small.

I'm reminded of one of my favorite Henri Nouwen quotes:

“The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show me some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?”

But even as comforting as that thought is, it stills leaves my acceptance and approval dependent on my love for Jesus rather than on His love for me. Perhaps it's more accurate and gospel-centered to say:

“The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show me some results? But: Are you in Christ Jesus?”

I Was A Teenage Elvis Impersonator

I have a confession to make. Don’t spread this around, but…I was a teenage Elvis impersonator.

It all started in fourth grade. My buddy, Tommy, and I decided to enter the fourth grade talent show. It was 1977, the year that Elvis (allegedly) died, so we wanted to pay him tribute. I sang “Hound Dog” while he ran around me on all fours barking like a dog! Now, that’s talent!

In fifth grade I moved to a new school and decided to enter the all-school talent show. This time it was serious. My mom slaved for hours over a sewing machine to tailor a white jumpsuit complete with rhinestones, high collar, and giant belt buckle. My dad squeezed half a tube of Brylcreem in my hair and combed it Elvis-style, ducktail and all. I took the stage and stole the hearts of fifth grade girls and their moms as I tossed them sweat-stained scarves from around my neck.

Seventh grade came along and I went to yet another new school. My older brother, Jeff, was already established in the small Christian school, so I became known as “Jeff’s little brother.” That wouldn’t do. Soon I made my Elvis debut at a Homecoming Banquet and basked in the applause as the homecoming queen planted a kiss on my cheek! I had made it! From then on I was known as “Little Elvis.”

I thought I had satisfied the two thirsts that every one of us has…the thirst to be someone special and to do something special. All of us were made with empty hearts that long to be loved (to be someone special to another person or people) and to make an impact on our world (to do something special that makes a difference). God gave Adam and Eve these thirsts, too, so that they would come to Him to satisfy their souls (see Genesis 1:27-28). But they satisfied themselves elsewhere…remember the tree? Since then, we too have forsaken the only Source of Satisfaction in order to dig our own broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13).

Jesus came and offered us complete satisfaction in His Spirit. “'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit...” (John 7:38-39a). It is the Spirit of adoption who whispers deep into my heart that I am someone special to my Father (Romans 8:16), and that I am part of a family of thirsty people (1 Corinthians 12:13). It is the Spirit who gives me the power and the courage to do something special with the gifts He’s given me (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Timothy 1:7), and to use those gifts to make an impact in my world by giving others a taste of His love (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22).

I’m still tempted to dig broken cisterns today. Elvis doesn’t work for me anymore. These days I’m tempted to drink from my reputation as a pastor, my performance as a father, my own quest for comfort and pleasure, and other leaky places. Have you been dipping your heart in the wrong wells lately? Run back to the Spring of Living Waters! “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” (Psalm 34:8a).

“Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.” (Abba Poeman)

Get Real

That's what this guy does.

I came across a new blog called "Altogether Too Much Privacy" today.

I'll describe it in two words: Real. Refreshing.

I was curious about the origin of the blog title, but the author answers that here.

Check it out sometime.

Dashboard Confessions: Anxiety

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?...Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25, 31-34

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:18-19


I’ve been describing some of the lights on the dashboard of my life. When warning signals such as acquisitions, appetite, and anger begin to burn bright in my life, they indicate that something other than Jesus is the center of my attention and the desire of my heart. I try to pay attention to these affections as they rise in my heart because they give me fresh opportunities to turn again from idols to serve the true and Living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). These little lights help keep my heart engaged on this journey of gospel transformation.

All too often my heart gets clogged with anxiety, that fear of the unknown and the uncontrollable that can seize my soul and stop short my love for God and others. According to 1 John 4:18-19, the remedy for fear is the perfect love of God. The love of God the Father--as it is expressed through the life, death, and resurrected life of His Son Jesus and poured out with the Holy Spirit—is the detergent that cleans the anxious gunk out of my fear-clogged heart (1 John 4:9-10; Romans 5:5). When I know I am loved, I won’t spend my time and energy trying to get others to love me or worrying about whether they do. Knowing that I am His beloved son in whom He is well-pleased because of Jesus frees me to live the cruciform life of loving God and loving others. Henri Nouwen makes this point in a helpful article entitled “Moving From Solitude to Community to Ministry”:

I love Rembrandt's painting The Return of the Prodigal Son. The father holds his son, holds his daughter, and touches his son and his daughter and says, "You are my beloved. I'm not going to ask you any questions. Wherever you have gone, whatever you have done, and whatever people say about you, you're my beloved. I hold you safe in my embrace. I touch you. I hold you safe under my wings. You can come home to me whose name is Compassionate, whose name is Love”…If you keep that in mind, you can deal with an enormous amount of success as well as an enormous amount of failure without losing your identity, because your identity is that you are the beloved. Long before your father and mother, your brothers and sisters, your teachers, your church, or any people touched you in a loving as well as in a wounding way—long before you were rejected by some person or praised by somebody else—that voice has been there always. "I have loved you with an everlasting love." That love is there before you were born and will be there after you die.

If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love…If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, "Love me!" and before you know it we become violent and demanding and manipulative

.

At this writing, my wife and I are planting a new church, what we hope will one day be a family of house churches called Riverside. Needless to say, church planting, especially planting a non-traditional church, can be scary. A few months ago I went through one of those seasons in which I seriously thought this plant could die at any moment. I took my anxious heart on a 24-hour silence and solitude retreat and poured out all my fears and frustrations to God, begging Him to show up and rescue me.

That night as I walked and talked with God in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, I noticed the anxiety light on the dashboard of my life was about to explode, so I cried out to God in my heart, “What do You want me to do? Where will all of this lead? Is this plant going to fail? What will I do next? What will people say?” My heart was full of fears, but my eyes were drawn to the clear night sky that sparkled with a myriad more stars than I’m used to seeing. The Big Dipper constellation was most prominent to me, so I stared at it for awhile. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the Father’s love for me as through this collection of stars He seemed to say, “Oh Thirsty One, I am your supply. See how big this dipper is? It still cannot contain the love I have for you. It will never run dry. I am enough.” He never answered my questions that night. As is so typical of Jesus, He answered my questions with a question of His own, “No matter what happens, whether Riverside makes it or folds, whether you are considered a failure or a success, whether you stay in Knoxville for the rest or your life or have to move away…Am I enough for you? Is my love enough to sustain you through the horror of failure or the happiness of so-called success?” To this day, I cannot look at the Big Dipper without hearing Him say, “I am enough for you, Thirsty One. I am enough. I Am.”

Dashboard Confessions: Anger

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:1-3

There’s a third “light on the dashboard” that lets me know something’s not right under the hood of my life. Anger is a glaring indicator that I’m not seeking Jesus, His kingdom, and His righteousness because as James reminds us “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).

Who me? Angry? No, of course not. After all, I’m a pastor…right? I wish I could say that being a man of the cloth precluded me from being a man of wrath, but it’s just not true. I can get down right mad sometimes.

Once I got mad at my wife for asking me to vacuum because she was keeping me from reading my Bible. I’m not kidding. I had been looking forward to spending some time in my favorite chair, reading my Bible and spending some time with God. I had been on my way to that chair and prayer several times that evening but had been prevented for various reasons. Those reasons happen to have the same names as my children. Just as I was about to settle in for some sweet time with Jesus, believing that all my other duties were done, Christine reminded me that I had agreed to vacuum the downstairs. So I huffed and I puffed and I vacuumed the house down. Anger provides amazing energy for house cleaning, doesn’t it? As I pushed that machine back and forth with furious force, I began to think about why I was so angry and the Spirit began to melt me. “This is ridiculous. What goal is she blocking that makes me so mad right now,” I asked internally. “You wanted to read your Bible and spend some time with God,” the Spirit seemed to say with sanctified sarcasm. “Oops. That’s embarrassing,” I chuckled nervously to myself. I wanted to crawl under a rock, but instead I went to Christine and confessed the double foolishness of raging at her for making me do something I said I would do and hindering me from wanting to pursue righteousness. My anger was not producing the righteousness I thought I wanted, but was produced by a self-righteous sense of entitlement. And woe be to anyone who tried to interrupt my pursuit of God with a need to be served. Of all the nerve!

James says that the reason I get mad, fight, and quarrel is because I want something that I’m not getting. Whether my desire is for something shallow like some down time in my favorite chair or a deeper craving for respect, you’d best not get in my way. I’ll even try to use God to get what I really want, asking Him for good things that I can spend on my own pleasure. James follows this discussion with these words: “You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God” (vs. 4)? My anger is a red flag that tells me I’ve traded God for a lesser lover. I get angry when my idols disappoint me. There it is. Anger is the flashing light that tells me that I’ve got idols under the hood.

Only the Spirit can produce the righteousness of God in me. And He’ll do that when I take my anger and its idols to the cross, gaze at the One who bore the righteous wrath of His Father for my idolatry and irritability and with repentant faith believe again the Message that I’ve heard about Him (Galatians 3:1-5).

Dashboard Confessions: Appetite

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

"Oh God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh faints for You...." Psalm 63:1

"For many...walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." Phillipians 3:18-19

Another light that sometimes flashes on the dashboard of my life is my appetite. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The window into his heart may also be found there. We're prone to treasure treats as much as trinkets.

On the day that I went shopping for shoes I had a craving for shakes. I purposefully chose to shop in a particular shopping center because I knew there were four options for securing one of my favorite treats: milkshakes. I could go to these milkshake dealers in the following order of my preferences from first to last: Marble Slab, Baskin-Robbins, Arby's (love that Jamocha shake!), or Steak and Shake. I recognized that day that I had an unusually overwhelming appetite for a chocolatey milkshake. It served as a light on the dashboard to warn me that my soul was not thirsting for God; instead, my flesh was fainting for food.

Jesus' command to not be concerned about what we will eat or what we will wear must have sounded different to His hearers on the hillside than it does to us today. Their concern was whether they would eat or wear anything, our concern is what we will choose to eat or wear. As one of my student ministry interns admitted, "We get stressed because we have so many options." Why do I tend to see Jesus as only one of the many options for my heart's hunger rather than the sole satisfaction of my soul?

At the start of the new year I started Weight Watchers. I know that dieting may be an idol for some folks, but for me (since I rarely do it) it is a spiritual discipline. Limiting the amount and kinds of food I eat is just plain hard work. Cutting back on my food and soft drink intake has revealed to me how unwilling I was to allow myself to feel hungry or thirsty. I had been quieting every pang of hunger with something to munch and drowing my thirst with liquid sugar. It's easy to confuse emptiness of heart with emptiness of stomach. But the Spirit has been gracious to turn my hunger pangs into reminders that, like Jesus, "my food is to do the will of my Father who sent me and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34), to know Him and to make Him known. He wants me to remember that I am made to fill up on Him by faith until I overflow with the righteousness, joy, and peace of His Kingdom (Galatians 5:6, 22-23; Romans 14:17).

When the appetite light begins to blink in my belly, I know it's time to turn away from idols to the Living God again, asking Him to feed my famished heart with Jesus, the Bread of Heaven, and to sate my soul with His Living Water (1 Thessalonians 1:9; John 4:13-14, 6:35). Then, satisfied in Him, I will find strength to live the cruciform life of feeding on God and feeding His sheep.

Dashboard Confessions: Acquisitions

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust detroy and where thieves break in to steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21

The first light on the dashboard of my life that alerts me to trouble under the hood is acquistions. In other words, my desire to acquire tells me something has gone haywire in my heart. When I find myself wanting stuff that I don't really need it tips me off to my heart's dissatisfaction with seeking first the Lord, His Kingdom, and His righteousness.

I remember shopping one day for a new pair of black dress shoes. I had worn out my old pair, even replacing the soles a couple of times. But I was about to preach my grandfather's funeral and thought it might be a good time for a new pair of shoes. While shopping I noticed this powerful urge to buy other stuff. I saw things I thought I needed, things that would not have come to mind if I hadn't seen them on the way to finding shoes! That urge to splurge flashed on the dashboard of my life and warned me that my heart was asking "what shall I wear?" instead of "how shall I seek and savor and serve the King and His kingdom?"

A walk through Wal-Mart will weigh our wants. Here's a test: see if you can leave Wal-Mart (or the mall or other such place) with only one item. It's difficult to go to places like that with a list and only leave with what you came to get!

As a kid I would occasionally pester my parents for the latest Atari video game or some other trinket. When my dad had heard enough, he was known to say with a whiny, mocking voice: "I want, I want, I want. I need, I need. I gotta have. Gi'me, gi'me, gi'me!" Those words too often describe the cry of my heart. And the more I want something, the more I think I need it. The more I "need" it, the more I've "gotta have" it, until my heart is overflowing with "gi'me, gi'me, gi'me." This is a light on the dashboard for me, telling me my heart is crying out for an idol when it was made for a King and Kingdom that are worth more than all that I can or do possess (Matthew 13:44-46).

When I pay attention to this indicator, I have a fresh opportunity to repent of my idolatry and embrace Jesus again as the One who endured the penalty for my materialism. Only the Gospel can cure my greedy grasp of trinkets and secure my grip on Jesus my Treasure.

Has the acquisition light been flashing on your dashboard lately?

Dashboard Confessions

A couple of years ago, on a trip to Landsdowne, VA, two different lights on the rental car dashboard flashed at different times. The first one looked completely foreign to me, and since there was no driver's manual in the glove compartment, I just ignored it and drove on. (I was relieved to find out that it was merely letting me know it needed an oil change!) Ignorance was bliss.

Later on, another light came on and even beeped at me warning that I was low on fuel. Since I knew what this warning light meant, I pulled over at the nearest gas station and filled up. In this case, knowledge was a blessing! But what if I had been ignorant about this light, too, and ignored it? It's important to know what the lights on our dashboards mean. Ignoring the wrong light could mean trouble.

All too often the ligts on the dashboard of my life are vying for my attention while I enjoy the blissful ignorance of my cruise control Christian life. The Spirit is trying to tell me that "something's wrong under the hood" as I'm on my journey to seek the face of God. But unless I prayerfully spend time in God's Word, reflecting on my heart in light of Jesus' glory and grace, I won't know what the warning lights are or what they mean.

Some of the lights on my dashboard include:

• Acquisitions
• Appetite
• Anxiety
• Anger
• Approval
• Acceptance
• Apathy
• Attention

In future posts, we'll consider how each of these warning signals may help us take a look under the hood and lead us to repent and believe the Good News afresh, resulting in greater love for God and love for others. I want a cruciform, not cruise control, life.

[I am grateful to the late Dave Busby for the "lights on the dashboard" metaphor. I believe he used it in his "Heart of the Matter" talks and book.]