True Righteousness and Holiness

“He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11-12 (The Message)

Over a decade ago, I listened to a series of sermons on Ephesians 4:11-12 which characterized the “gifts” described as the five pillars of ministry in the church: apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and teaching. Jesus certainly gives these discrete gifts to specific individuals, but they also describe a full pallet of activity Jesus intends for each of us.

We should share in the creative activity of establishing beachheads for kingdom work (apostles). We must tirelessly speak the Truth into our spheres of influence (prophets). Our lives ought to be characterized by relationships which provide natural opportunities for gospel conversation (evangelists). Loving others as ourselves requires that we care for each other and tend to our collective needs (pastors). We can’t know Jesus the living Word without encountering the written Word (teachers).

I have gifts that differ from yours and God calls each of us to various ministry activities. However, not having the gift of evangelism does not allow me to ignore developing relationships with those in my sphere of influence, praying for those folks, and having gospel colored conversations. In this sense, Jesus calls each of us to apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and teaching work.

Discipleship efforts that combine these five pillars of ministry will create a solid, stable, secure foundation on which the ministry of the entire Body can rest. Doing so will renew our minds, transform our hearts, and result in sincere lives. We’ll “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). When the fruit of this type of transforming discipleship fills the Body, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers will abound. The ministry of the Body will explode beyond the church walls and begin taking new ground, expanding the boundaries of the Kingdom of God among us. Discipling as we go in this manner fulfills Jesus’ commission to the church.

Transforming discipleship requires that we know about God, but knowledge about Him differs from knowing Him. Knowing more about who God is will expose our hearts to that knowledge through the gate of the mind. However, only renewing our minds will result in transformation. We must do more than know Truth. We must use it to renew our thinking, to begin thinking Christianly. This will allow us the shift gears and begin experiencing heart transformation. That change will drive a new way of living, in “true righteousness and holiness.”

Can we find a fast lane to transformation? Not really, change takes time. But, God has made us a certain way and only methods that recognize how He put us together will flourish. Created in His image, He created us for relationship – relationship with Him and with the people around us. Embarking on the journey towards transformation with two or three others in a covenantal and transparent relationship agrees with the DNA of our souls. Engaging Truth in the right context will have lasting, transformational effects.

Gospel Agreement

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Matthew 28:1. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb. Mark 16:2. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. Luke 24:1. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. John 20:1.

Critics of the New Testament often talk about the dissimilarities or presumed conflicts between the gospels. That red herring holds no water with the resurrection. If you fail to notice that the Mary and Mary went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, the fact that haven’t cracked open even one of the gospels becomes obvious.

Jesus has inspired more books in the last 2,000 years than any other historical figure. I would guess the resurrection takes first place in the number of discussions contained in this massive body of writing. For the believer, the resurrection marks the contextual middle of temporal history.

Everything before the resurrection prepares for it and it colors everything after. For thousands of years, a small middle-eastern people group foreshadowed the resurrection through rituals, prophecy, and writings. For thousands of years after the resurrection, the Christian faith, fueled by the power of the resurrection spread to the corners of the world and became the bedrock of western civilization.

The volume of specific historical and logical proofs for the actual, physical, time-space event of Jesus’ resurrection bury competing explanations six feet under. Though these proofs provide us with intellectual comfort by confirming that our faith sees through the lens of fact, our changed lives provide the most significant personal proof.

On the eternal scale, Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of all the rest. If Jesus had died and not risen, the promise of new life would have been born still. Because Jesus lives, union with Him – moving beyond the restoration of the first man-God relationship to a more glorious destiny - becomes possible.

The fellowship enjoyed by the apostles who walked with Him continues with us through the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:18-21). We speak to Him in prayer (e.g., 2 Cor. 12:8) and He speaks to us through the Spirit (John 16:13-15; 2 Cor. 12:9). We dwell in Him and He dwells in us (John 14:20). I now live by Christ living in me (Gal. 2:20) and I put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Because the resurrection vindicates Jesus, we receive justification (Rom. 4:25; 5:18-9). His identity is exchanged with ours and in Him we were crucified and died (Gal. 2:20), raised (Col. 3:1), seated in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), and are made sons (Gal. 4:4-5). We become heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29), a spiritual house and holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). We not only have union with Jesus, but with Father and the Spirit (John14:16; Eph 2:18).

Strong and Courageous

When Joshua took the reigns of the people from Moses, the Lord prepared him with specific instructions and the admonition “be strong and courageous.” A few verses later the He tells Joshua to “be strong and very courageous.” Then the Lord finishes off these first nine verses of Joshua chapter one with a third “be strong and courageous.”

When my wife says something to me once, I sometimes don’t “hear” it. That rarely happens when she repeats it three times. It seems we might want to give the Creator of everything a little more attention (this is not to suggest my wife does not have god-like qualities…is that clear Dear?). So, what’s up with being strong and courageous?

We call a person courageous when he follows his will even though the rest of his person tells him to turn and run screaming like a little girl. A courageous person exercises control over how he will or will not act. Real courage and real strength display themselves in self-control.

If I control something, it means that I choose what it will do. If I choose what that thing controlled will do, then things exist that it could do, but I have chosen it will not do. Rational people make such decisions – what to do or not do – based on the fabric of their values. Values precede actions and courageous action requires courageous values.

In my past criminal defense practice, I once represented a young man with paranoid schizophrenia. Not only did Alex live in an unreal world, all his imaginary friends were out to get him. I recall clearly visiting him for the first time in lock-up – he babbled on about how his case was based on the “water law” and that he should be free. Actually, Alex had stolen a car and led the police on a high speed chase up and down Highway 5 – no water there. After that first meeting Alex and I attended a hearing in which Alex repeatedly interrupted the judge with comments that culminated the announcement that he was going to marry the young and pretty public defender who had represented Alex before me. The judge ended the hearing with a wry smile and a quick “good luck Mr. Trask.” Alex had no basis whatsoever for his decisions. Alex was not a rational person and his values were imaginary.

Where should we rational folk get our values, our standards for self-control - the drivers of courage? For the serious believer, that question borders on the rhetorical. God’s Word provides the ultimate standard for man’s values, thoughts, and actions. After “be strong and courageous,” God spoke his final preparatory command to Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”

In order to have the Word available at the point of courage begging decisions, I must give it the necessary time to soak in and “richly dwell” my heart. I must meditate on, savor, ponder, and wonder over the Word if I plan to act courageously. Do you have the right stuff to initiate courageous action? If not, what will you commit to becoming strong and courageous?

What makes you laugh?

Think about it – getting hit by a baseball is probably not funny. But, if it happens to an unsuspecting dad tossing a pitch to his four-year old son who’s swinging a plastic bat of cartoon proportions and the video camera is taping…I dare you not to laugh. A baby in a high chair isn’t hilarious by himself. Neither is buying and selling securities. But when the baby can talk and his pitch about a securities brokerage is interrupted by call on his cell phone to which he replies “hey girl, can I hit you back?” Well, that’s just plain funny.

Why are these funny? In one instance, you have a real life event that is unexpected, unlikely, and out of place. In the other, you have two things put together than are, well unexpected, unlikely, and out of place. In both instances, absurdity makes us laugh.

I watched an original performance this evening that was packed with humor. From video shorts titled Awkward Moments with Roger in which insensitivity was taken to the absurd, to a rewrite of Shakespeare complete audience asides which paired modern marriage themes with the King’s English and men in tights (an absurd combination).

Much more important than the reason I laughed was what laughing did for me. For 90 minutes, I hadn’t a care in the world. I was transported from everything that pushes in and threatens to squelch a sense of joy to a place of emotional pleasure, freedom, and relief.

Behind that performance is some good theology. In fact behind every facet of life there is some good theology – there is not one shred of our existence that God has not thought about or that does not relate directly back to him. I mentioned this was an original performance. That means it was conceived in someone’s imagination and pushed into the world through their effort.

There was a first time in the universe when creative activity took place. God imagined the universe from the tiniest subatomic particle to the largest galaxy and everything in between. Then with no pattern or raw material, He spoke it into existence. Included in this miracle was man, created in the very image of God.

So, like God Himself, a creative mind began to think of humorous absurdities and how they might be played out in performance. Then creative performers came together under creative direction and performed a kind of incarnation where ideas took on form.

I was blessed tonight, not just because I laughed and experienced protection from some of the harshness of life, but because I saw the face of God in the work of His co-creative image bearers. I learned just a little more about how big, diverse, and marvelous God is. The memory of that experience is like a vacation photo that I can tuck away and pull out from time to time and enjoy. Those co-creative image bearers will continue to bless me for days to come. Every time I tell a story about Awkward Roger or Nick in tights, behind them I’ll see Jesus smiling.

Yes Means Yes (well, it ought to)

In Jesus day, oaths were a common thing. Let’s imagine that I want my neighbor who lives just outside of Jerusalem to bring his family over tomorrow (he’s got way more kids than I do) to help me finish up harvesting my fields. If I can get it done now and to market early, I'll earn top dollar for the portion I trade with. To get his interest, I tell him that for each person he brings to help he can use one of my donkeys for a week. Fortunately, I have more donkeys than he has kids.

Over the years, my neighbor and I have made a few deals with each other and I haven’t always been real good about fulfilling my end of the bargain. So, my neighbor is naturally suspicious and initially declines my generous offer (come on, one donkey week for one kid day is a pretty good). I’m starting to worry (thinking about the extra profit I'm going to lose), so I pull out my ace in the hole – I swear by everything holy in the temple that I will fulfill my end of the bargain.

I could still be a creep and not do what I say, but in our culture, an oath really means something. As long as I intend to keep my oath and actually keep it, I have fulfilled the law. This causes my neighbor to think twice. His experience tells him to thumb his nose at me and walk away, but once I throw my oath out there, he’s really starting to think about it.

These are the circumstances Jesus addresses in Matthew 5 when he says “you have heard it said . . . do not break your oath . . . but I tell you, do not swear at all.” Why did I make an oath to my neighbor? To get him to do something he probably would not have done otherwise. It was an effort to bypass his understanding and judgment and trigger his will – in my favor. The evil that Jesus is addressing is not broken oaths, but an inherently wrong approach to other human beings. If I act this way, throwing out oaths to get what I want, I’m no longer dealing with a person, but a thing to be moved about to achieve certain results. It becomes impossible for me to recognize the image of God woven into that person. It’s more akin to luring my pet dog with a treat.

In our day and age, oaths are relegated to courtrooms and inaugurations. At best, they are declarations that hold us accountable to perjury laws. On the other hand, we’ve worked manipulation into a fine art form of sublime variations making it difficult to identify the boundaries of truth. This truth fog requires our attention if we want to live out the Kingdom perspective Jesus bring us.

Presentations, pitches, advertising, spin, and the like present ripe opportunities for varying degrees of manipulation and it’s often hard to spot. If I want my yes to be yes, I need to determine (whether a little or a lot) if I'm to circumvent the hearer’s understanding and judgment and get to their will. To what degree am I willing to reduce my message to technical correctness which leans on the hearer to look below the surface and dig for truth? Do I eliminate any information that might be peripheral, but necessary for the hearer to make a fully informed decision? Am I more concerned about persuading than the content of my message or the well being of the hearer?

I’m not pretending this is an easy task. It would be much easier with the old righteousness – as long as I didn’t take the Lord’s name in vain and I did what my oath promised, I fulfilled my duty. But Jesus calls us to a new righteousness – the kind that flows from a transformed heart. It’s messier to be sure, but it sets relationships right in a way the old righteousness never could.

Who Cares About History?

Why should I care about history? History only tells me about people and events that happened years ago - sometimes hundreds, even thousands of years ago. History fails to help me today because what I face looks nothing like the world even 30 years ago. Even if history could help me, how do I know I can trust what some other person wrote down? That person had their own bias, wore their own colored glasses. Nothing more than his point of view ever made it to the pages of history. I’ve got my own point of view and no one tell me to give more weight to the historian’s view, or even your view. So, who cares about history?

Every time you read one of these articles, you hear about the biblical worldview. Every time I say that the Bible has something to say about all of life, not only our spiritual lives. And yes, the Bible has something to say about history. Everyone has a worldview, a way of looking at the world. We look at the world via the revelation of its Creator, a Creator who placed in us a yearning for Truth, meaning, and purpose. We’ve found it, but the rest of world still searches and they pick at the scraps they find outside of God’s revelation. After all, when you’re hungry, bad food is better than no food, right? However, the non-biblical worldview simply does not fit into what God has made, including what man is. No matter how tantalizing the scraps or how many a person can gather up, what we suppose about the nature of life outside of God’s revelation remains false and will never satisfy.

The opening paragraph describes the substitute view of history held by many today. (1) History is only a series of disconnected events that happened to occur one after the other. (2) History started by chance and it could end in an infinite number of terminals. (3) The record of the past only presents a dead person’s point of view. (4) Since we cannot know truth, we make our own and no truth is any better than any other. (5) The purpose of history (since it cannot truly be known) is to support and bear witness to my truth. That’s the alternative – what’ the biblical view of history?

You might first respond that the Bible says nothing about history, but let’s take a closer look. First, the Bible says “in the beginning” God created all that exists – the beginning of history. The Bible continues, written by the glove of human intellect filled with the hand of God, to count off the history of God’s chosen people towards an event no one fully understood before it happened – God entering the human race through Jesus, the God-man. The Bible even tells us about history that hasn’t happened yet through prophecy. From the Bible, we know that history began with a purpose and that every event through history marks progress towards an established end of pre-eternity where the Christ will meet his bride, the church.

Understandably, Jesus took history seriously. In his early ministry, he made a trip to his own hometown, went to the synagogue and read form the prophet Isaiah about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, sat down, and said “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21). Isaiah wrote in time past about a future event, Jesus claimed to be the one of whom Isaiah prophesied, and Jesus’ own words describing Elijah and Elisha immediately following the reading gave credence to biblical history.

Stephen’s defense of his faith in Acts chapter 7 recounts the history of God’s redemptive acts. The book of Acts itself chronicles the history of the early church. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that “I don’t want you to be ignorant of [history].” (1 Cor. 10:1a) Hebrews chapter 11 recounts the giants of faith. The entire New Testament company took history seriously.

It might have occurred to you that because the Bible presents the coming of Christ in the context of history, history forms the basis for our very beliefs. In history, God created. In history, Jesus came, died, and was resurrected. In history, the apostles drafted the gospels and epistles. In history, Christ will return. And, in history eternity will begin. Without events in history, we would not have the perfect sacrifice of Christ, we would not have atonement for our sins, we would not have been redeemed.

So, what am I to think about history? History consists of human events with a purpose, God’s purpose. What use is it? First, history helps me understand who I am, where I came from and where I’m going. Second, History provides me with a wealth of examples of good, bad, ugly and lovely human acts and a method of examining myself. Scripture provides me with the standard for evaluating the actions of humankind past. I can certainly look to biblical history to see how the nation of Israel alternately followed God and followed empty idols. I can see the ebb and flow of rebellion and repentance, the constant grace and mercy of God and the undying love of the Creator for his people. From that I evaluate who I am – the rebel or the penitent.

I can also inquire into the worldviews of other historical figures and determine what they presupposed about life, what they based their lives on. Likewise, I can examine the results of their worldview lived out. How did a person with a consistent biblical world view affect the events of history?

For example, during the civil war period in America, there were three main rationales for the anti-slavery movement. David Wilmot, a Democratic congressman represented the first view. Wilmot opposed slavery because of his own separatist views, wanting to limit slavery in order to limit contact with slaves. Abraham Lincoln represented the second view. Lincoln recognized the unalienable rights of slaves, but did not think it necessary to give them equal social or political status. Men like William Lloyd Garrison and Orange Scott represented the third view. “O, how accursed is that system," Garrison observed, "which entombs the godlike mind of man, defaces the divine image, reduces those who by creation were crowned with glory and honor to a level with four-footed beasts.... Why should its existence be prolonged one hour? Is it not evil, only evil, and that continually?” They held a biblical view of man and slavery, that God created each in His image without distinction, and that when man enslaves his fellow man he calls God a liar and does his evil to Christ himself. (See Matt. 25:41-45)

These men possessed varying worldview, with differing presuppositions about the nature of man, and each resulted in a distinct perspective on slavery. Certainly, Lincoln’s view put America on a path of recognizing the equal stamp of God on each man’s soul. But, what would have happened if the position of William Lloyd Garrison and Orange Scott, the biblical view of man, had ruled the day? Would our country have waited 100 years until the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education to prohibit school segregation or until 1964 when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act to legislate nondiscrimination?

Who cares about history? If we claim to hold a view of the world shaped by the Bible, we should. A bibilical vies of history presents the plan of God unfolding before us; it uses past people and events to draw us into conformity with God’s truth.

The Birth of Jesus: A Short History (over a long time)

So, here we are ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Don't let our contracting economy, sagging Christmas retail sales, general uncertainty, personal hardship, and those people with holiday greetings that refuse to include the word "Christmas" distract us from pausing and recognizing the place in time where God invaded humanity - "being found in appearance as man," "being made in human likeness."

The historical and prophetic evidence for the birth and life of Jesus provides a convincing factual foundation for biblical faith. It spans thousands of years and comes from ancients hoping for Messiah, contemporaries who walked in Jesus footsteps, followers carrying on after His death, and unbelieving chroniclers wrestling with the facts.

Ancients:
Isaiah proclaims His miraculous birth: "therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." The Psalmist identifies His nature: "I proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become you Father." Jeremiah tells of His lineage: "The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land." Micah points out the place of this miracle (and again, His nature): But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

Contemporaries:
The Gospel of Luke puts it plain and simple: "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Followers:
The New Testament epistles contain a number of texts that scholars have identified as pre-New Testament songs and creeds. With Paul's epistles starting as early as 15 years after Jesus death, these texts belong to His immediate followers. "... His Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 1:3-4. "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8. "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. " I Timothy 3:16.

Chroniclers:
Writing in the later half of the first Century of Nero's persecution of Roman Christians, Cornelius Tacitus observes "Hence, to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the person commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontious Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius" but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also." At the same time, Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata scorned Christians in his writings. "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites and was crucified on their account. . . . You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them."

We could explore the evidence for hours and still have stacks left - it's strong. The prosecutors on Law and Order wish they had it this easy, all of Manhattan would be safe. Believers have filled the 1900 years after the Chroniclers with continuing evidence of the reality of Jesus. The overwhelming experience of God's love has motivated multitudes to proclaim Jesus to their own deaths. Renewed minds and transformed lives have pushed forward the best social reforms in history.

Our faith is founded on fact. So, pause, gather yourself, and stop to think about that point in time when Jesus was born. That moment which God had prepared for His Son to take human form in preparation for the redemption of mankind and the future redemption of all creation - the unsearchable riches of Christ, the mystery which for ages past was kept hidden in God.

Merry Christmas!