Performance Based Acceptance and Life in Grace

Performance Based Acceptance
and
Life in Grace

“Seeking the life in grace as the way of life” is my personal vision statement. Often I am asked if it is really possible to live a “life in grace” in our performance based acceptance culture. Yes, it is possible to live a life in grace, but such a life requires training. Discipleship, or maturing in Christ, is a process of training our minds to understand ourselves the way God does.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)

Pastors have their performance reviewed by congregations every Sunday. Schoolteachers are evaluated on the basis of the test scores of their students. Test scores may have an important place in education, but they certainly do not give a complete evaluation of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom; and they are by no means an indication of the worth or value of the teacher as a person.

For me, there are two important keys in the training or transformation process that lead to a life in grace.

The first key is in understanding that our performance in life does not determine our worth or value as human beings. A Christian, at the very core of their being, is the beloved child of God, with whom God is delighted and upon whom God’s favor rests.

Whether I stammer and stutter aimlessly through a sermon or powerfully preach God’s Word in a way that leads people to God’s throne of grace, God’s love for me is the same.

However, this wonderful, marvelous grace of God does not give the believer license to become an under-achiever. God’s Word calls us to perfection, not mediocrity. This is the second key.

God’s unfailing love for us enables the believer to see the difference between our identity as the beloved child of God and our performance in the world. Both are important. Because we can rest in the security of God’s unchanging love for us, we do not have to be afraid of failure.

God’s perfect love is intended to remove all fear from the believer’s heart. As we live in grace, no matter how miserably we may fail to meet cultural standards, God is not ashamed of us. And, as we live in grace, we are not ashamed to rest in God’s love for us, regardless of the world’s judgment of our performance.

Because of God’s love for me, I want to offer my very best work to God. This I believe is true worship. Offering my very best requires that I am open to receive criticism, direction and correction from my supervisors, peers, and those I serve. Why? Because, with all that I am and all that I have, I desire to honor God, not to earn His favor, but as my response to His love and acceptance of me, just as I am.

This process of transformation is not easy. At times it is very painful. But God has high hopes for us. As we move on toward perfection, we are destined to become just like Jesus. Let us fix our eyes on that goal.

Bill Gillham has a wonderful book that deals with grace and performance based acceptance: Lifetime Guarantee.

Also, Gene Edwards has two good books that may help you understand our trials along the journey to become like Christ: A Tale of Three Kings and The Prisoner in the Third Cell.

\O/
Selah,
Alex.

Attitude Adjustment

Attitude Adjustment

The more that we exert ourselves in physical activity the more we will perspire. The more we perspire the more we, and others around us, become aware of the odor we give off. This is true in the spiritual realm as well. The more stress in our lives the more there is an opportunity for anxiety. When anxiety is present we can give off an odor of worry and fear. But the Apostle Paul says our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God, therefore instead of fear and worry we can give off the fragrance of Christ which is like a sweet perfume. Is this really possible?

As I write this my wife is preparing to fly to St. Louis. Our daughter Katherine is pregnant – her due date was three days ago! Katherine had a difficult delivery in her first pregnancy 2 ½ years ago and we have been a bit concerned for this one. We learned this morning that Katherine’s husband has the flu. What if Katherine’s gets the flu? Now there is something else to worry about. So, what will Cheryl take with her to St. Louis? Will the spirit within her be giving off an odor of fear and worry? Or will her spirit give off the Christ-like fragrance of the peace of God?

At times like this I remember that the Life in Christ is about an attitude adjustment -- be transformed by the renewing of your mind is the way the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 12 – because it is so easy to drift away from the truth. Before you realize it the Christian life is reduced to trying to live by a moral code. “It's crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we've heard so that we don't drift off” is how the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it. (Hebrews 2:1 The Message)

When I need an attitude adjustment I like to re-read "Principals of Spiritual Growth" by Miles Stanford. In his book Stanford list some of the attributes of The Attitude of the Child of God Under Grace:

To believe you are a child of God, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
To refuse to make resolutions and vows; for that is to trust in the flesh.
To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.
To "hope to be better" (hence acceptable) is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.
To be discouraged is unbelief, as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for you.
The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion.
To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God's order, and preach law, not grace.
The law made the child of God's blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing; Our devotion may follow, but does not always do so, -in proper measure.

I have found these attributes helpful in developing an understanding of the Life in Christ. I hope you do also.

Selah

\O/
Alex

Interchanged or Exchanged?

Interchanged or Exchanged?

"The term 'Exchanged Life' refers to the Christian’s core identity in Christ. The Christian is a new creation, born of God. They are not what they were before – all things are new.
The missionary J. Hudson Taylor made the term 'exchanged life' popular through his testimony of how God made him a new man.( Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, page 154) " The word "exchanged" means that God has made it possible for us to exchange our complete inability to live the Christian life for Christ's total sufficiency to live His life through us. (I discussed the Exchanged Life in my first post to this Blog on December 3, 2008.)

I came across another term for this same concept. Noted theologian and scholar Bishop N.T. Wright uses the word ‘interchanged’ in his commentary on Second Corinthians. Wright says that at the heart of the gospel proclaimed by the Apostle Paul is the fact that “what is true for the Messiah is true of his people.” For Paul this is not just a powerful thought or belief but a fact of experience.

Wright explains this ‘interchanged’ as: “the Messiah died, so his people die in him, sharing his suffering; the Messiah rose again, so his people rise again in him, knowing the power of the resurrection to comfort and heal, already in present time, and cherishing the hope that one day they will be given new, resurrection bodies like the one the Messiah himself has now.[1]”

Wright’s explanation of ‘interchanged’ gives great insight to the depth of Paul’s prayer in 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7. In this brief passage of scripture the Apostle Paul uses the word comfort, in one form or another, ten times. Ten times in five verses. In using this word Paul does not mean comfort like someone giving you a hug and assuring you that they care for you. He means so much more. He means a comfort that meets you where you are and then raises you up to where you can see new hope, new possibilities, and a new way to move forward. Paul says this is the comfort of God for us when we are suffering. Paul also says that this comfort is so real, that once you have experienced it, you can actually share God’s comfort with other people.

In this brief passage Paul reveals the essence of The Exchanged Life: What is true of Jesus becomes true for His people. What was true for Jesus is that he was comforted by God. Paul says Jesus’ people can experience the comfort of God. What was true for Jesus is that he comforted and healed others. Paul says that Jesus’ people can share the comfort and healing of God with others.

I appreciate Wright emphasizing that for Paul (and Hudson Taylor) this is not just a powerful thought or belief but a fact of experience. Whether you use the word exchanged or interchanged the result is the same. You give up one so that you can accept the other.

Maybe this helps us understand why, on the whole, the Twenty-first Century American church is so lukewarm in its witness for Christ. Our culture believes “it can have its cake and eat it too.” Experiencing what is true for Jesus as being true in your own life comes from giving up your life so that you can embrace new life in Christ.

Giving up control, giving up living by the ways of the world culture, giving up on the idea that God became incarnate in Christ so that we would or could be better – giving up is hard! But God doesn’t want us to improve our lives. He wants us to exchange – interchange – our lives. We give God all that we are, -- spiritually dead, guilty sinners and Christ gives us all that He is, -- Resurrected life, forgiveness, righteousness, acceptance.

Imagine what the witness of the church would be if just one small group embraced their new life in Christ and began to live their exchanged life each day. Actually, you have an example of that. The Apostle Paul described the life of his church in Acts 17:28 “'For in him we live and move and have our being.”

Because of that witness here we are --- the followers of Christ 2,000 years later.

Selah
\O/
Alex


[1] Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians (London, SPCK) p.4

Light For Our Journey

The New Year is only seven days old and already I am feeling stressed from what seems like too many things to do and so little time available. When I start feeling this way I pull out my file of Grace Thoughts and let some of the little gems I have collected over the years help me regain perspective.
Light For Our Journey is one of my favorites and one that I turn to often:

Light For Our Journey *
"Older men served as night sentries for our missionary homes. They swept our yards, heated our bath water, guarded our houses, and were most useful in carrying notes at night between homes. One night I heard a familiar cough. When I went to the door, I could just make out the figure of Papa Jean, {one of the most dedicated sentries}, holding out a note. It was a dark, tropical night. No moon or stars were shining. There were no street lights on this isolated mission station. A small, six inch kerosene lantern with a smoky chimney in Papa Jean's hand gave the only smattering of light.

Such a pitiful little light in such a dark night I thought. "That lamp doesn't give much light, does it, Papa?" I said to him.

"No, it doesn't," he answered. "But it shines as far as I can step."

How often I remember {Papa Jean}.

I can learn to trust God for my future, for I have learned that His light does always shine as far as I can step."

* Virginia Law Shell in Good News magazine, July/August 1990, p.36, quoting from her book As Far As I Can Step

\O/
Selah,
Alex

Happy New Year???

Happy New Year???
We are so used to giving this greeting at the dawn of a New Year. However, I had to pause to reflect on this greeting as I skimmed the newspaper while brewing my morning coffee. A lead story in the Business section quoted a marketing professor: “I think 2009 is going to be a blood bath. I think it’s going to be very, very ugly.”

Not much of a cheery thought to begin the first day of this New Year. The article with that quote went on to list all the businesses that failed in 2008, which included: The Bombay Co.; Lehman Brothers; Bear Stearns; Aloha Airlines; Skybus: Linens’ N’ Things; Sharper Image; KB Toys; and many others. (The last figure I saw recorded more than twenty restaurants in Manatee County Florida went out of business during 2008)

Whoa, maybe we should skip all the New Year’s Day Football Bowl games, go back to bed and pull the covers over our heads.

Or, we can remember as we enter this New Year there is both Good News and bad news.

The bad news is that this economic recession may make 2009 the most challenging year in our lives.

The GOOD NEWS is there is no spiritual recession for those who put their faith in God the Father Almighty. Our God is faithful; His mercies never come to an end. In God’s economy there is never a lack.

“Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” (John 6: 10-14 NLT)

For EVERY follower of Jesus, God has called us for just such a time as this. I believe the Apostle Paul has a word that can guide all of our lives throughout this year:

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."
(2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 NLT) ( Emphasis Mine)

May we all experience God’s grace and power in our lives, each and every moment of 2009.

The Perfect Gift

The Perfect Gift
Galatians 4: 1-7

John Grishom’s book “Skipping Christmas” is about a man that got tired of all the hoopla surrounding Christmas. He decided to skip all the decorations and celebrations, much to the consternation of his neighbors and friends. His book reminds me of the man who got tired of all the frantic haste and commercialism associated with Christmas and decided not to go along with the crowd. As a part of his protest he decided not to send Christmas cards. For the first two weeks of December all went well, but as the mail brought him cards with greetings from friends and family he began to feel guilty about sending no cards. Finally, a few days before Christmas he couldn't stand it any longer. He rushed to the store and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf. He bought it, purchased stamps, went home and addressed cards frantically all evening. He addressed 49 cards. He had one card left over which he tossed on the table on his way to mail the cards. The next day it occurred to him that he had addressed and signed all those cards but had not actually read what the card said. So, he grabbed the left over card and took a look. This is what it said:

"This cheery card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way."

Now comes the frantic “have to” gift shopping. When we “have to” do something the stress generally relieves us from all creativity. But, when we “get to” do something all of our creative energy is free to flow.

God did not “have to” create the world. The beauty, splendor and precision of the universe are evidence of God’s “get to” creativity. And, when the world became corrupted and lost to the power of sin, God did not “have to” redeem the world. He chose to do so. And God, with his creativity flowing through his “get to” decision, made the choice of the Perfect Gift.

Galatians 4: 4-5 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”

Many people have refused God’s gift because they thought what the world really needed was a strong military leader, or political leader. Or perhaps they choose not to accept God’s gift because they are caught up in the thinking that all we need is more education, good government and good habits to save ourselves.
God’s gift is so simple, yet so profound. He offers salvation to us one at a time, so that we can then become the people of God. As the people of God, with our lives transformed by God’s grace we then become witnesses of God’s glory to the world and lead even more to receive God’s gift of life. Together we become co-laborers with Christ for the Kingdom of God. That, I believe is the true hope of the world. But, it is so simple that many people, caught up in their frantic lives, often do not see God’s gift.

A friend recently shared this with me.

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Perhaps we are missing God’s Perfect Gift.

“Naming the Baby”

Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1: 18-23

I have enjoyed observing our children going through their process of choosing a name for their children. In my generation family names were passed on. My first and middle names are the first and last names of a grandfather that was a Methodist preacher in the Civil War era. This present generation seems not as concerned with choosing family names as they are in choosing names that are unique or have alliteration in it.

In The Bible names are often chosen because they identify a unique characteristic of the person or announce the person’s mission in life, such as Abraham which means "Father of Nations" or Peter meaning "rock" and describing the disciple’s role in the church.

Joseph was instructed by an angel to name Mary’s child: "YOU ARE TO NAME HIM JESUS, FOR HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS." Jesus is the Greek form of a familiar Jewish name "Joshua." It means literally "The LORD is salvation."

I suspect Joseph spent the rest of his life trying to understand exactly what the angel meant: “For he will save his people from their sins.” It is not as easy to understand as you might think. Joseph is not alone. For the last two thousand years Christians have tried to find ways to explain Jesus’ mission. Some explanations focus on Bible passages that say Jesus ransomed or rescued us from sins; others on passages that say Jesus paid the penalty for our sins; and others on passages that proclaim Jesus conquered sin and death. All of these are helpful in understanding the magnitude of Jesus’ mission but there is a part of the angel’s announcement to Joseph that I think is even more helpful.

The angel quoted the prophet Isaiah “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” It is not coincidental that the last words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel affirm his title, Emmanuel: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Christmas is just a few days away. Let us prepare for our faith to be renewed as we, like Joseph, ponder the angel’s announcement of the name of the Christ Child.