Sacrificing Good for Perfect

 I’ve preached a lot of sermons about the danger of being, as Jesus used to call it, “lukewarm.”  And I believe it is most definitely true, that many churches today have succumbed to apostasy and false teaching.  C.S. Lewis used to say that a new Christian is a sheep among wolves.  The new believer needs to be careful regarding what they adopt as doctrine, and also read the Bible for themselves to make sure that they aren’t getting some watered down version of the Gospel, based on current fads or political correctness.  But I want to tackle a slightly different topic today.  After almost twenty-five years of active Christianity, I have noticed that there are still some who may fall victim to the notion that we can save ourselves, if only we repent ardently enough.  In other words, striving for perfection in our day-to-day lives becomes for some people, a thing to be proud and self-righteous about.   

While repentance is definitely part of God’s salvific plan, the follower of Christ must remember that it isn’t within our ability to abstain from sin perfectly all of the time.  Romans 3:23 tells us that in fact, “All have fallen short of the glory of God.”  We have sinned in the past, and will sin again in the future.  Paul addresses this flawed notion of possible perfect behavior in the book of Galatians.  The entire epistle was written to deconstruct the idea that human beings can obey God’s law perfectly all of the time.  He reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith, and even that not of our own doing (Ephesians 2:8-9).  So it appears then, that we need not be perfect in our faith walk or in our repentance, because only God is perfect.

Now please don’t misunderstand me.  We must repent of our sins and ask forgiveness of course, and probably on a daily basis (if we are being honest).  But the aspiring modern-day disciple must not spend too much time worrying about his or her frailty or lack of perfection.  Sanctification is a lifelong journey.  You will have seasons of victory, and seasons of failure.  The late Charles Spurgeon said this in one of his most famous messages: “We never get perfect faith so as to be entirely free of doubting; and we never get repentance which is free from some hardness of heart.”  Don’t believe me?  Think carefully over the last week.  How many times did you think, say, or do something that may not have reflected a perfect and Holy God?  Humbling isn’t it?

I suppose my point is that we must pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus.  But when we slip up and make a mistake, do not assume that we are beyond help or in a hopeless situation.  Trust in Christ, get back on your feet again as soon as possible, and ask for His forgiveness.  And then most importantly, continue on your own personal faith journey.  As a mature Christian, we are able to deal with our own weaknesses.  As the apostle Paul says, God’s power is often made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:10).  I don’t know about you, but that is a big relief for me.    

.

A Beacon Church

My mother used to love lighthouses.  Growing up, I remember seeing several pictures of lighthouses on our walls at home.  I never questioned it as a little boy, it was just something all of us kids accepted.  Now that I am older, I often wonder what part about them she liked so much.  Was it the serene ocean coastline that appealed to her?  Was it just the fact that there are so many photos and paintings of lighthouses out there in general?  

Most of us know the purpose behind these magnificent buildings.  They exist to help guide ships into safe harbor during inclement weather or the dark.  They help pilots navigate to safety; they are literally a beacon for ships in the night.  I do wonder if my mother was a beacon herself, or if she was searching for guidance.  Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Pastor R. Loren Sandford from New Song Church used to talk about something called a 'lighthouse church.'  In his opinion, these churches represent a healthy connection between God and His people, and they are a rare thing in this day and age.  There are four points that compose these churches.  First, a lighthouse or beacon church is presence-based.  In other words, the church convenes each Sunday for the purpose of glorifying and worshipping God - not just to listen to the pastor talk or for mere entertainment value.  If your church has an awesome sound system and large screen TV's, that is great.  But remember, all of this isn't a requirement to give thanks to a Holy God.  The parishioners should be more interested in Him than the presentation.  

Second, a lighthouse church has freedom to move.  This means that if the Holy Spirit shows up during service, we need not necessarily stick to the bulletin.  Real Christianity is sometimes messy, as opposed to polished or refined.  The leaders in one of these churches can get out of their own way, and let God do His thing.  They espouse purpose over preference whenever possible. 

Third, these churches tend to have a culture of honor.  This means that all people are welcome, regardless of background.  This doesn't mean that a church must affirm all viewpoints - Biblical sin must still be recognized as such.  But I think it does mean that a lighthouse church understands all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  And as such, they welcome the opportunity to share God's Word with anyone He sends their way.  

Finally, a lighthouse church promotes a healing atmosphere.  On any given Sunday morning, you won't hear a message designed to incite hate or divisiveness.  Instead, you will hear about God's saving grace through faith, and Jesus' offer of salvation.  Jesus healed people both physically and spiritually; churches must understand how to create a loving environment like this each week.  

John 8:12 is one of my favorite pieces of Scripture.  It says, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"   We need modern day beacons to shine bright in the darkness.  Strive to create a lighthouse church atmosphere in your own congregation.  Look around each Sunday: does your house of worship have all four of these things in place?  If not, is it at least a work in progress?  Be the beacon in the dark of night for other people.  Live a lighthouse type of life whenever possible.

. 

Opening Our Spiritual Eyes

Most of us have heard the phrase looking at the world through rose colored glasses.  Most of the time, it simply means that we have chosen to view something in a positive light.  And in fact, I think we very often do choose to view the world in which we live with certain preconceived ideas.  I believe all of us look at life through the lens of a particular worldview.  I believe further, that it is impossible not to interpret the events that unfold around us without passing them through some sort of intellectual filter.  It helps us understand things, and allows us to categorize other peoples' opinions and biases.  

If we are talking here about viewing things through a particular type of lens, then to begin with, I can list off several non-Biblical systems of thought.  For example, the atheist says that there is no God at all, so don't bother looking.  The relativist says that all truth is relative, and depends only on what you personally decide is right or wrong as an individual.  A universalist might stop you in the hall and remind you that basically everything shakes out to similar attributes in the end.  Finally, Scientism tells us that we can only ever know the physical world around us, and nothing else really matters. 

If you notice, all of these worldviews seem to share one thing in common: they don't leave space for any higher, greater truth claims.  They look only so far as their particular belief system allows, and no further.  Any appeal to a higher moral or ethical power is limited by whatever a worldview happens to espouse. In other words, there is a glass ceiling in terms of how much truth you can access, in relation to the aforementioned beliefs.   

I will contrast this to the orthodox Christian Biblical view in a moment, but first I want to point to a piece of Scripture from Acts 9:18.  It says, "Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.  He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength."  This passage describes the apostle Paul's famous conversion on the road to Damascus.  In a flash of light and loud audible voice, Saul becomes Paul, and he meets the real God for the first time.  His spiritual eyes were opened. 

Author and philosopher C.S. Lewis has been quoted as saying, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."  God is our primary source of goodness in this world.  If we aren't looking at things by His light, then we are missing something.  All we see are shadows.  We need His help to see things clearly, to understand the parables and stories of the Bible, and to help spread the Gospel message.  Without it, we can easily slip back into one of the secular categories I mentioned earlier.  

By the way, once the scales come off, we are free.  There is no going back.  We are free to love without reservation, to shed guilt associated with sin, and to recognize the need for repentance in order to come closer to a Holy life.  This all takes some work of course, but it is work with an end goal of hope (getting closer to a loving God).  Whereas other worldviews are often limited by a finite end goal, the Christian view allows its proponents to test other opinions and views by stacking them up against what God says in the Bible.  At that point, we can weigh an idea based on whether or not it yields good fruit and produces spiritual growth, or whether it espouses false prophecy and conflict.  

As a final note, I wanted to add that some readers may accuse me of being a victim of my own religious bias and Christian worldview, in the same way that I have faulted secular belief systems.  But understand this difference ... in a solid Christian church, a new believer has the freedom to question faith and look around a bit.  Can adherents of the other views I mentioned do that?  For example, if the atheist starts talking about the possibility of the supernatural, I suspect intense criticism would follow. Likewise, if a naturalist tries to question macro-evolution or the Darwinian view on human origins, they are "out of the club" so to speak.  By contrast, a confident and loving Christian church can provide a safe platform by which a new convert can 'kick the tires' and test ideas.  This is how iron sharpens iron.  So the sooner we shed those scales, the sooner God can open our spiritual eyes. 

. 

Leaving a Godly Legacy

Unfortunately, I have been to a lot of funerals in my time.  During these special ceremonies, attendees are presented with old stories and memories about the deceased.  Almost always, there is a table or tackboard set up at the funeral home or church showing photographs from the person’s life; not to mention an obituary printed in the newspaper.  All designed of course, to celebrate and remember someone’s life here on Earth.  In fact, I think most people care quite a bit how they will be remembered.  It’s almost inherent within us to desire that others remember us.  

And so it begs the question: what kind of legacy are you going to leave behind after you are gone?  How do you want your family and community to remember you?  Perhaps some don’t give much thought to this.  Afterall, who has time to think about eternity when you have bills to pay and a full-time job.  But still, this thought occasionally haunts me.  Personally, I would love my writing and my books to survive me in some way.  The thought of my adult children reading something I wrote thirty years from now is strangely comforting. 

For many, I suspect that their perception of legacy is to leave behind a financial inheritance for family or children.  This is certainly a good thing, but I think we can dig a little deeper.  If we go one step further, I think it’s relevant to ask “how do we start building a legacy right here and now?”  How do we construct a way of thinking, a methodology, or even a value system that we can leave behind for others to take with them out into the world and make a difference?  These are all good things, but still very temporary and fleeting in many respects.  After a couple of generations, unless you become really famous, most of us will be lost to antiquity.  But know this – nothing about you is lost to God.  There was a time before you were created when you didn’t exist, but there will never be a time since then, when you will cease to exist.  We all go on spiritually. 

Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”  The author here is talking about making certain that ancient people continued to share what God had done for them during their lives.  I believe that this is our job today as well.  This is how we build a truly lasting legacy - this is how we make a difference.  If you are able to leave your family some financial wealth, that is great.  If you have raised children that grow up to be responsible and well-adjusted adults, even better.  But do people know what God has done for you in your life?  Have you communicated the various ways that Jesus saved you?

I remember one funeral in particular that I officiated years ago.  I knew this lady quite well through the church.  People stretched out for hundreds of yards in either direction during her graveside service.  I had never seen so many friends and family come together in this way – they practically enveloped the entire cemetery that day.  But the one thing I’ll always remember about her, was that she demonstrated kindness and grace to everyone she met, and she talked about Jesus.  She talked about Jesus a lot.  Her Earthly legacy was a large and loving family.  But her spiritual crown was given to her in Heaven.  This was her real home anyway.  It is our true home also.  Make sure you are building a legacy that points upward to Heaven, and to a God that lives forever.  

.