Monthly Archives: July 2011

Why Christians teach

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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (esv)

Jesus was called Rabbi, Teacher. One of his gifts is the pastor-teacher (Ephesians 4:11), who shepherds the flock in teaching. We’re people of the Book. We do Bible studies (note that word ‘study’). And we still use preaching as one way of passing on the message.

Here are some thoughts as to why Christians teach.

We do not know

We teach because of lack of knowledge. Growing up not part of a church, I did not know why Jesus died. I had to learn. I thank God that people taught me.

All Christians will always have room to learn more. It starts with the fundamental: Jesus’ death and resurrection. It includes much more that builds upon this foundation: how did Old Testament sacrifices work, and what do they show us about Jesus?

Ask yourself: am I willing to learn new things?, what areas do I need to learn about?

We do know

We teach to remind ourselves, to remember what is important. To avoid forgetting, or a dangerous shift in emphasis towards what is less important.

The New Testament has good examples of this:
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you of the gospel I preached to you …
2 Peter 1:12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these …
Jude 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it …

Ask yourself: have I forgotten what’s important?, am I excited to hear the same good message again or am I bored?

We are wrong

We teach because we need correction. We actively hold in mind a ‘truth’ about God that is not true at all. Perhaps it’s a big, big, big lie – that we are saved by our own efforts. Perhaps it’s less huge, but it will still have an effect – the untrue beliefs of the weak Christians in Romans 14-15 and 1 Corinthians 8 could fit here.

In either case, it’s a blessing to find correction. As Jesus said (John 8:32), ‘The truth will set you free.’

Ask yourself: when was the last time you changed your mind?, are you at risk of apathy or arrogance and therefore unable to admit error?

We live the truth

The first part of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (above) highlights to profit to be found in God’s scriptures. My first three points are a reflection on this. The second part of the quotation directs us to the purpose of reading these scriptures: competence in serving God.

Ask yourself: does my life and service indicate that I am learning?, does what I learn transfer to greater commitment to God’s good works?

The benefit of weakness

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Weakness is supposed to be bad, but I reckon it’s a case of misunderstanding and discrimination. We should promote weakness for more people.

In the Bible book of Deuteronomy, God’s people are on the edge of their promised land. The Lord saved them, took them through the journey, and is getting them ready to live for him in the good place he’s provided. And there’s a powerful reminder of their weakness:

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (esv)

God did all manner of good for his people. Easy logic says, ‘Well, then – I must be pretty good!’

Not true. They were unimpressive, without distinction. Which tells us the first benefit of weakness: humility.

Humility. A right regard for one’s own weakness and inability. It’s not the same as humiliation, which has strong tones of mockery and ridicule. Humility is more straightforward, an admission of reality.

The wonderful news is that humility is freedom. Freedom to admit need. Freedom to stop pretending. Freedom to ask for help. Freedom to thank others. Freedom to learn and grow. Ultimately, humility is the freedom to enjoy and praise love (‘Your love is wonderful, because it not deserved but freely given’).

And thus to the second benefit of weakness: strength.

Strength. Only the humble are truly strong, because only the humble move through their own weakness to seek the real strength of another. This is clear again in Deuteronomy 7, when God points his people forward to when they will face enemies. How should they react?

If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt
Deuteronomy 7:17-18 (esv)

If Israel compare themselves with enemies, it’s the same as relying on their own strength. Their fear would say, ‘I do not know if I am strong enough.’ God says, ‘There is no doubt – you are not strong enough. So, trust me and my work and my salvation. I’ve done it before!’

Thank God that the whole Bible message is that of weakness leading to both humility and strength. Its peak is the cross of Christ. In humility, I see that my sin-weakness is so profound that it led to the death of Jesus. In strength, I see that Jesus’ cross has washed away the punishment and power of my sin-sickness.

Anticlockwise Hume weir

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Forgive me for experiementing. I’ve tweaked my blog, to have a separate cycling page. It seemed to be a topic that was a little different from most of the other posts I write.

So here’s today’s ride. Not too long, less than 50km. A couple of steep pinches – especially past the trout farm. I recommend getting off the Riverina Highway rather than ride it all the way into Albury: it’s pretty uneven, has more traffic, and not as good a ride a going via Thurgoona.

When marriage isn’t marriage

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Should the state define marriage? Is it OK for attorneys-general to say that two blokes can marry each other?

And will Christians be inevitably cast out of society for thinking that what some define as ‘marriage’ is no marriage at all?

I can easily answer the last question. Here’s a section from the Anglican marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer. Though printed in 1662, a form of these words continues in present use.

The minster addresses the couple, and says:

I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgement, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in Matrimony, ye do now confess it. For be ye well assured, that so many as are coupled together otherwise than God’s Word doth allow are not joined together by God; neither is their Matrimony lawful.

Quite a serious warning!

These words make the Christian position clear: a marriage may be accepted by people while not accepted by God. Since there will be a judgement, God’s opinion is the one that counts.

What it means for me: even if the state defines non-marriage as marriage, marriage itself is not destroyed.

I know it would be unhelpful, and it would hurt people. Yet I do not need to speak of this as if it’s the end of the world. Christians already have centuries of living successfully in a world that includes pseudo-marriage.

Serving mammon

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The amazing Luke 16:1-13 ends with a warning from Jesus: You cannot serve God and money.

(Money translates the word ‘mammon’. Some Bibles, including the King James Bible, opt to give us the original Greek word.)

If we serve money, what will that look like? It will see us look to money for the good things that come from God. It will see us honour money in a parody of the way we should honour God. Here are some examples.

  • Learning
    When we serve money, we are disciples and money is our teacher. Money instructs us about what is right and wrong. Money teaches where true value lies (higher pay equals more important)
  • Motivation
    When we serve money, we are motivated to honour money. Aggressive haggling is not embarrassing, because we save money. We will live at a standard that reflects our income – why would someone live ‘as if’ they were on $50 000 when they really earn $100 000?
  • Life and death
    When we  serve money, it’s a matter of life and death. Changes in regulation may be relatively minor, but are celebrated/mourned out of all proportion (most interest rate changes, for example). If we miss the deal or the job or the pay rise, we’re despondent
  • Forgiveness
    When we serve money, it’s money that provides forgiveness. Money provides the excuse for our behaviour (‘I said that to her because she was trying to rip me off,’ ‘I can’t give anything away for the hungry now, because I’d have to stop Freda’s flugelhorn lessons’)

In every case, these areas should be full of Jesus. Jesus is the Rabbi, we should learn from him (Matthew 11:29). The motivation and direction for living is Jesus, who is and alive and exalted and presently ruling all things (Colossians 3:1-2). In Jesus is life, life for anyone who trusts him (John 1:4). Jesus uniquely died to forgive sins (Ephesians 1:7), so any other promise of forgiveness is a lie

I’m sure we could make the list even longer. Please jump in to the comments and include more examples. I’d love to read what you have to say.

This all should change us, of course, if we trust Jesus as Lord. So I’ll end with a question to test ourselves: in what ways are we treating money as if it were a god?

Stand up for the resurrection

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Anastasia is a beautiful name, don’t you think?

Wikipedia tells me there are truck-loads of variants of the name, both male and female.

Anastasia means resurrection.

You can see the related biblical word used in John 11:25 (Jesus says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’). We can break down the parts of the word, it has ‘up’ (ana) and ‘stand’ (stasis). The resurrection is when someone ‘stands up’, after having been dead.

John 20-21 has a fascinating use of stand. The chapters start with Jesus standing up – the resurrection which was necessary (20:9). It’s unexpected for the disciples, hard to believe though plainly not impossible. They become convinced, and therefore John seeks to convince us. The first witness John calls, Mary Magdalene, sees Jesus standing but does not recognise him until he speaks her name (20:14-16).

Following this, John lists three times Jesus was revealed to his disciples. For those of us who can’t count to three, he includes the count (21:14).

In each of these three, the standing-up Jesus stands then speaks.

20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20:26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

21:4-6 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

Instead, I’ll leave it to you to go and read what Jesus spoke about

Yet we see that one aspect of the witness to the resurrection of Jesus is Jesus’ standing up. How did they know Jesus stood up from amongst the dead? Because he stood before them to speak his further instruction.

Don’t perish, but have life

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It’s the Bible verse so famous it gets to go to the football, the Olympics, even the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (see image to the left). It has its own webpage (lookup316.com). How many Bible verses have that as a claim to fame?

It is, of course, John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It’s all good, but this post is all about the perish part of the verse. This word does a lot of good work in John’s gospel, so it’s worth having some time just following its path through the story of Jesus (and those who trust him).

‘Perish’ in John

John 3:16 is the first use of perish in the gospel. It is the danger which those who believe Jesus avoid.

Perish reappears in John 6. After feeding thousands, Jesus orders the scraps to be collected, so that ‘nothing may be lost‘ (6:12). It seems an odd detail, for the leftovers make no further appearance. But then we read Jesus’ urging us not to eat food that perishes, instead filling ourselves on food for eternal life (6:27). That food is Jesus himself, and the manner of eating is trusting him. The wonderful promise is this:

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day (John 6:39, esv)

Jesus proves himself to be the one who holds on to his people. The collected scraps of food exemplifying his desire that even the apparently worthless remain collected with the whole.

As John 10 puts it, Jesus is the good shepherd who gives life to his sheep, and will never let them perish (10:28). Jesus is a success at this. His prayer to the Father reports ‘job complete’:  ‘not one of them has been lost‘ (17:12). Even in Jesus’ arrest, no one else was lost (18:9).

Sadly, though, Jesus and his followers were under attack. The sheep are under siege from thieves, who come to steal and kill and destroy (10:10). Their plan centred on putting Jesus to death. Ironically, their plan was almost right. They though Jesus’ death would protect against destruction, ‘that the whole nation should not perish‘ (11:50).

Jesus’ death does prevent destruction. It prevents the destruction of his followers. In his death, he took our destruction. And in his death he gathers us (like broken fragments of bread?) to himself (see 12:32).

What’s this all mean? Two consequences.

1) All who trust Jesus are perfectly safe from destruction. There may be hatred, opposition, pain. Yet the over-arching reality is eternal safety, eternal life. Life and safety are gifts from the Son of God, won by the Son on the cross, and guaranteed to all eternity.

2) All who trust in Jesus are perfectly free to lose life (12:25). We are so safe, that we are to give up everything to follow Jesus. We are so secure that we are follow Jesus by giving up everything. We were once subject to destruction, weak pawns with no future. Through trusting Jesus we become free, able to willingly imitate the once who saved us.

That is what I call life!