Being the person God created…

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:1–3)

Hypocrisy is when a person says one thing but does another. This word is usually attached to morals. Example: A driver honks and screams at cars for changing lanes too fast, then cuts across three lanes without using his signal lights. In broader terms, it is giving rules for how others should live, but breaking those rules in my own life. Jesus says this sort of life eventually is exposed.

Christians are often called hypocrites. We know how God wants us to live, talk, even think, yet we do things, or say things, and even think the opposite. While that sort of problem has an explanation, so does the cure. First the explanation:

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20–24)

We who have a saving faith in Jesus Christ are given a new nature to live by, and though the old nature is termed ‘dead’ (that means ‘separated from God’ rather than unable to act, talk, and think), we do have a choice, not an excuse. It is simple:

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:14)

We need to change our thinking: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Anyone who uses the accusation of ‘hypocrite’ know the difficulty and challenge of changing how to think or even admit the need to change. This not an excuse, but it is a matter of faith. Do I believe I know better than God? Do I even know what God thinks about concerning what I pray about? I have a friend who says, “Why pray when you can worry?” illustrating how easily it is to be a hypocrite if worry is a person’s habit of life.

Humility pops into this equation too. If I think I am right all the time (pride), listening to God’s view and putting it into practice is not easy. I have to see myself as weak, needy, and often downright stupid. This is not popular in a world that tells us we need to have a positive self-image. God’s ways are not our ways. Pride blocks them.

God, You know every thought I think or whisper and what opposites exist in what I say compared to how I live. You call it how You see it. I’m not to be as the Pharisees, but to be like Jesus, and the only way to do that is to keep my sins acknowledged, confessed, and abandoned, then be filled with Your Spirit and walk that way with no provision for the flesh. You give me what is needed. My choice is to believe You and live like it. 

No images . . .

Believing in God and trusting Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and eternal life does not automatically guarantee freedom from idolatry. Even Christians can push God from the center of life by clinging to a faulty concept of Him, and that means worshiping a false god, one of human design.

In a discussion with a person who professed faith, we got on the subject of God’s discipline and I said something about the way He rebukes my sin. She replied, “Oh, my God is not like that.” Without rebuke, or without listening to rebuke, such a concept of God would set her free from His correction.

The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Here God infers that He is who He says He is, not what I want Him to be. Not only that, many doubt that God will reward their search for Him. Sometimes we think that the result of our search isn’t a reward at all if it means we need to change our behavior. Either way, that sort of faith does not please God.

I’ve had a few people think of me in a false way, particularly one person who put me on a pedestal as if I never made any mistakes. It was obvious flattery that wanted acceptance of her, but it was not true and unpleasant for me. I’m not sure if God, who is perfect, responds the same way to our false ideas of Him, but forbidding the worship of idols is high on His list of commandments.

The true God is many things. He is powerful, yet tender-hearted. His plans are perfect even when we cannot figure them out. In fact, if I presume God is going to act in a certain way, I could be thinking of my own version rather than the mysterious yet faithful God of the Bible.

Three of His followers had it right when they were held captive in Babylon. They refused to worship the idol of their pagan king. When threatened with being cast into a fiery furnace, the king asked, “Who is the god that will deliver you?” They replied . . .

O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. (Daniel 3:15–18)

No presumption. They didn’t know what God was going to do and said so, but their faith held. Regardless of what God did, they did not assume what His plans were, and steadfastly refused to save themselves by worshiping an idol.

There are some Bible promises that make me realize that I need to worship God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. One of them is . . .

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3–4)

If my mind is on a god that does not fit the God of the Bible, even though I think I have it right, then promises like that one do not work. I might feel at peace for a while, but my version of God will not come through on the promises. Who can invent a god like Him?

Another promise is this one, well known to many but again requires faith in the genuine God, not in some celestial Santa Clause that will do what I want Him to do . . .

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:5–7)

If I have a wrong concept of Him, that error cannot guide me in the right way. My invented version can be manipulated according to my own understanding, but the God who loves me and gave Himself for me is above any manipulation and far greater than my imagination, totally worthy of whole-hearted faith and surrendered worship.

To Live is Christ — letting God speak

Communication is seldom simple. I read of a pastor who said he was, “tickled to death” about something. A man from another culture heard his words and was deeply sorry for the pastor because he didn’t understand the idiom.

Americans use language like “hot chicks” and “cool dudes” that make little sense to others, but that isn’t the only problem. Words are said but not heard (mothers know all about that), or full sentences are uttered but only partly heard, often with unpleasant ramifications.

Sometimes public figures say things and their words are taken out of context. The media easily puts them in a bad light by misrepresenting them — using their own words.

Lately I’ve noticed how often the words of the Bible are misrepresented too, simply by doing the same thing. Verses are taken out of context and then used to support a theory or make an assumption.

I’ve been reading a passage in Daniel where this Old Testament prophet must know and interpret the king’s dream or he will die along with the other “wise” men of the court. Daniel prays. Daniel 2:19 says, “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

His prayer follows, but only part of it is used in the devotional guide that I’m using. That part says, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” (2:20-21)

The devotional asks several questions. Two of them are, “Who is Daniel talking to?” and, “Would you tell your king that he was only a servant to the only true King?”

When I read these questions I wondered how could it be assumed that Daniel was speaking to the king? Did the person who wrote them open the Bible, put a finger on these verses, and not read anything else in Daniel before writing the devotional entry?

Verse 19 says that Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Verses 20-23 record that blessing. They start in third person but Daniel’s words soon switch to second person. He says, “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”

Then verse 24 says, “Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: ‘Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.’”

In the prior verses, Daniel was talking to God, and maybe his friends, but certainly not the king. He was verbally worshiping the One who had revealed the dream to him, declaring praise and expressing his faith. He was not challenging the king. He was not even in the presence of the king.

Does it matter? In the bigger picture, yes. Do this with the rest of Scripture and interpretation will be faulty throughout. In these verses it also matters. Be seeing Daniel’s words as praise and prayer, God has blessed my heart with applications recorded here over the past few days. For instance, his praise to God came before he went to the king with his interpretation. Daniel knew who was in charge and he didn’t run to the palace in a panic.

Not only that, Daniel’s words show his humility, but also his respect. By reading the rest of Daniel, I see that this godly man never once taunted any of the kings that held him captive. He knew who was the ultimate authority and didn’t put the spotlight on himself by mocking or belittling the men who thought they were in charge. That is also an example to me.

Lately God has been showing me much about interpreting His words. He uses figures of speech that are unfamiliar to our culture; I need to know that. He uses language that means more to the original readers than it does to me; I need to know that. I also cannot pull partial sentences or even parts of paragraphs out of context to support my own ideas. This is called proof-texting. Instead, I need to intently hear and understand all of what He has said about any given topic.

The Word of God is often twisted and misinterpreted, mostly for some sort of human gain or to support a personal theory or idea. I must not do that. I need to always interpret any passage or verse by considering all of what the Bible says, even if those truths convict and rebuke me, or challenge me to change. The important thing is that the Bible will always honor the One who inspired it — and I can honor Him by letting it speak to me.

Who am I pleasing?

I’m told there is a dearth in North America of biblical preaching. Even some of the giants are falling, men who normally held fast to the truths of Scripture are now waffling and trying to make the message more “appealing” to their listeners.

My sister told me yesterday that her pastor preached a sermon on a particular sin and said during his message that he knew only two other preachers who would dare to preach on the same topic. Can this failure to proclaim what the Bible says about this or any sin be stamped “people-pleasing” or are the reasons behind it more complicated? I don’t know. I do know that this is not a new thing.

Today’s devotional verse is insightful. Paul is in prison for preaching the gospel. He writes about his experience and says that he is glad the gospel continues to be preached even though,

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: the former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains. (Philippians 1:15-16)

Even in the early church, some were jealous of Paul. They thought if they took over his job, they would “win” some sort of invisible competition and make themselves look better than the apostle, as if they were better because they never wound up in jail like he did? For them, it was more about looking good and being popular than proclaiming Christ.

After reading another chapter in Lou Priolo’s book, Pleasing People: How not to be an “approval junkie” I spent some time thinking about his topic and my own motivations. I came to the conclusion that, for me at least, pleasing-people is not an accurate description. I’m more interested in pleasing myself. At my sinful worst, I really don’t care what people think as long as I look good, and apart from Christ, I will not go out of my way to do anything to make them happy.

Of course Jesus died to redeem me from that attitude. He offers me His life and the Holy Spirit to change that selfishness into “love thy neighbor as thyself.” While doing so requires my cooperation, His kind of selfless love is His doing. I am not up to it without His grace and without that new life He gave me.

In our many relocations, we have gone to many churches and experienced many kinds of preaching and preachers. Some are gracious and like Jesus most of the time. They know how to speak the truth, surely in love, but without waffling. On the other hand, some have been an on and off mix of flesh and Spirit, confusing the congregation when selfish ambition or arrogance gets thrown into their ministry.

If the preacher is using the Bible and faithful to declare what it says, God is honored and the church enjoys a measure of health. When this does not happen, me-ism, and self-pleasing that looks like people-pleasing are usually present too, and in the long run, no one is pleased.

This is a warning to me and to everyone. Putting my own interests first can take many forms, but if left unchecked, it will have an impact on all that I do. God put me here not to please myself, not even to be a people-pleaser, but to please and glorify Him.