Jesus gave up his life to usher his people back into relationship with God. I am completely okay with accepting that Jesus died for this purpose but we refuse to die ourselves. I act as if my life is more valuable than Jesus’ because I will not lay mine down in the same way he did. If anyone deserves to die it would be me, not Jesus because whatever is more valuable should be saved first. When asked the hypothetical question, “if your house was burning down and you could grab one thing, what would you grab?” My answer is not “socks!” No, my answer is “wedding pictures.” I save the pictures from the flames because their value far exceeds socks. So whose life is more valuable, Jesus’ or mine? Who should be saved from death? I know the answer but yet I act the opposite. I applaud Jesus for his death but when he commands me to do the same I ignore him. I act as if I didn’t hear him because I do not want to hear him. I do not want to die.

I refuse to have my “cool” reputation murdered at work or school for the sake of the gospel and the good of those around me. I refuse to have my desire for safety and control murdered so that I can love a strange people in a strange part of the world who have never heard the good news of Jesus. I refuse to have my desire for comfort and rest after a long day of work murdered so that I can love and serve my wife wholeheartedly. I refuse to die like Jesus and I treat his life as more expendable than my own. I would never, ever say that my life is more valuable than Jesus’ but my actions proclaim this plainly.

The most unbelievable and shocking thing in all of this is that God still passionately loves me and counts me perfectly righteous in Jesus. Even though I so often treat him with contempt, he chooses to save me from the burning house at the cost of his own life. Why wouldn’t I lay down every facet of my life in submission to such a person? To not do so will lead me to the coma of mediocrity and apathy. I/we have been saved to die selflessly for those who do not yet know him, but will one day worship him as we do.

“On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven…” Acts 21:8

Over 20 years separate these sightings of Philip. In Acts 6 (30’s AD) he was in charge of distributing food and waiting tables but in Acts 21 (57 AD) he is called Philip, the evangelist. He goes from young Philip, waiter to older Philip, evangelist. This gives me so much hope and freedom for the future. So often I get discouraged because my life is in such transition and upheaval right now. I am still learning how to be comfortable in whom God has made me to be in Jesus. But this subtle story shows me that God entrusts to me small things now, so that when I have more responsibility I will not defame His gospel or love a title more than Him. It took over 20 years but Philip was used mightily by God, so much so that he was distinguished from other Philips in the region by his evangelism.

 So lets enjoy our small roles now because “one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” and having God is sweeter than any role He might give us.

I believe the person and work of Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all of our needs.  Jesus testifies to this by exclaiming to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) I find that cognitively it is easy to embrace this grace filled doctrine, but often I struggle with a disconnect between holding an understanding and making it tangible. How are the truths and promises of the gospel proliferating beyond the head and heart into overflowing actions?

The Beauty of the Gospel

The beauty of the gospel is that it is not limited to one people group, but rather the truths of the gospel are multicultural, and multidimensional.  This means that the gospel is able to cross cultures and engage millions of individuals in ways that are unique to each person.  The beauty is displayed in the array of diverse worship that is evoked from the multitude.  The gospel is not limited to a definite, distinct directive, but rather it is made tangible in a thousand different ways everyday.  What I offer here are three contextual states that God uses to cultivate a tangible display of His gospel.

Three States

Obedience: When we are obedient to the Holy Spirit’s direction in day-to-day matters an avenue is created for the gospel to take formation.  Let me explain, as we are walking in step with the Spirit, He will put us right in the middle of where God is moving.  Through Paul, God proclaimed, “we are ambassadors for Christ, God (is) making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) This reveals to us that God uses us to make the gospel tangible to the world.  The obedience of our actions and the grace of our words will scream to the world the transforming power of the gospel.

Suffering: The second state in which God chooses to display a tangible gospel is in the context of suffering.  I do not think this would be a stranger to many.  Where else does our heart find hope when we are in despair?  The hope of the gospel is made most tangible when the Christian is at his end and the only anchor upon which he can cling is the promise in which Christ speaks into his heart.

Community: Lastly, I have found that God uses the community of believers to make the gospel tangible to one another.  As we engage other believers we see imperfect pictures of Christ.  From each other we learn the life changing power of the gospel as it is displayed through the individual.  More than that, the gospel is made tangible when Christians give of themselves to one another.  The gospel is placed on the center stage when Christians bear one another’s burdens.  Living under the rule of the gospel changes the inclinations of the Christian’s heart and make him a radical giver.  This is incredibly foreign to the world, and extremely attractive.

Final Note

These states are not to be taken as all-inclusive.  I dare not limit the power of God and His work through the gospel.  However, I do believe they can be helpful in seeing the gospel more easily.  May we praise God for His goodness in graciously giving us a glorious inheritance!

You may be wondering how God practically uncovered the true answer for me. It occurred when I ate lunch with some men who were so passionate about the kingdom of Jesus advancing in the world. They wanted Jesus to be worshipped and people to be loved, joyful and healed from the sin that was killing them, no matter the cost. “What a great passion God had given them” I thought to myself, but there was a sinking in my stomach. Why was I not as passionate about God’s rule and love advancing in the world? What could be more important, more lasting and more worthy of my life? But my soul was not thrilled and that plagued me. It was then that the Spirit of God guided me into the truth that you already know. Success for me was a changed, glorious Tyler, not a changed, God honoring world. So it makes sense that at this point in my life where the good news of Jesus’ perfection and love had healed me from so much insecurity that my passion for the expansion of God’s kingdom would be flat. I had already accomplished my intent and who cared about them, I finally respected myself! 

It felt as if I had been punched in the gut. I had been using God, who had loved me with an unyielding passion and loyalty through Jesus in the face of all my junk and rebellion against him. But what was God’s response to me in this moment? Frustration? Apathy? His response was his good news. His gospel that reveals I am more evil and deserving of eternal hell than I can fathom but that God’s love and mercy in the cross of Jesus is more than I can fathom. God revealed my selfish desires not to harm me but to discipline and teach me, so that I grow in my trust of his current affections and loyalty set on me. To rescue me from preoccupation with self. To strengthen me to work beside Him in changing the world through Jesus’ victory. He did it to better display his unmatched perfections!

I am still in the process of seeking out God’s answer to this question for me but I pose it to you. What is success for you? May God widen our eyes.

The Setting and Characters

This is a simple story.  It took place over a thirty-second conversation with a friend on a street corner.  Typically thirty-seconds is not a significant amount of time to engage in a meaningful conversation, however, those few moments had a remarkable impact on my understanding of God’s grace. 

The Plot

There was nothing profound said, rather it was actually quite shameful, for in those few moments the circumstance that shaped this revelation to God’s grace revolved around a lie I told.  As I walked away from our conversation a shameful conviction began to bear on my conscious because I knew I had invented a fabrication of the truth.  My initial reaction was to conjure up a reason that would justify why my conscious was over reacting and how I should just let it go.  Fortunately we serve a God who is holy and takes serious the claims of conforming his elect into the image of his Son and he would not just let it go. 

The Climax

Over the course of a week or two, the Spirit continued to renew the sense of conviction in my heart and in my mind.  I continued to wish it away and contently busy myself throughout the week, but he would not let it rest.  The climax of my story culminates outside a coffee shop where I was compelled to confess the truth to my friend.  Minutes before my confession, I attended a partners class for Austin City Life where we spent a solid hour discussing the reality of the gospel and upon hearing it preached my soul was burdened to bring my hidden sin to light.  Overwhelmed with shame, I approached my brother with the truth and he embraced me with open arms, offering the forgiveness that Christ had already purchased.

Two Lessons:

I tell you this story because I have learned two things from it:

Lesson One: This story displays the power of the gospel to forgive and restore the sinner.  It is by the gospel alone that we are given our basis to forgive, and be reconciled.  For in the gospel the penalty for sin was propitiated at the cross allowing for forgiveness, and right standing before God.  Through the resurrection newness of life was obtained making an avenue for restoration.  Forgiveness and restoration become the mantra of a person’s life when their beliefs submit in obedience to the gospel. 

Lesson Two: There is a deep-rooted joy that is experienced when God’s grace is realized through repentance.  I can only make mention of this joy for I am inadequate to describe it.  In my best attempt it is like that of a Father commending his son for obedience.  At the approval of his father the son is ignited with an unfathomable amount of pleasure.

Closing Thoughts

If I offer any final thoughts on my experience in God’s grace it would simply be to relish in the loving kindness of our God.  He is sovereign and supreme over all creation and yet cares to know and love us.  Take joy that you have a God who is for you and withholds no expense to display his glory for you to rejoice in.

44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord‘s, and he will give you into our hand.”

David proceeds to launch a stone into Goliath’s head and the rest is history. The point is this, David did not go off by himself and pray that God would somehow magically kill this man so that the shame of Israel and defamation of God’s name would cease. Instead he went out there with the skills God had given him and risked his life because he trusted God would use his efforts to accomplish his victory. Too often we cry out to God to do something mystical instead of doing the harder act of obedience to what he has already commanded. We pray that God would free us from our addictions but we do not confess our sins to a christian confidant (James 5:16), we do not  rid ourselves of the things that tempt us (Matthew 5:29-30) and we do not memorize the scriptures (Psalm 119:9-11). We ask that our friend would repent of sin and trust Jesus and have God as their Father but we do not talk to them about the gospel (Romans 10:14). The truth is that for most of us, it is much easier to pray great things then to actually do those great things. Prayer is essential but if not coupled with obedience to the bible, God will continue to feel non existent. But  christians be encouraged, we are not any less loved and valued by God in our failure because Jesus is our perfection. Christ has taken care of all our failures, so in love our Father beckons his foolish kids to join with him in changing this world with his gospel. 

So go out there with the skills God gave you in Jesus and risk your life to redeem the sin in humanity for the good of all people and the glory of God. “For the battle is the Lord’s” and we are the medium through which his victory comes.

The Great Search

In my opinion, Dave Matthews is a musical genius. (You don’t have you agree!) I find his music attractive because many of the lyrics he writes carry a sharp sense of reality. In the song Jimi Thing from the album Under the Table Dreaming he writes:

Lately I’ve been feeling low
A remedy is what I’m seeking
I take a taste of what’s below
Come away to something better
What I want is what I’ve not got
And what I need is all around me
Reaching, searching, never stop
And I’ll say…

If you could keep me floating just for a while
‘Til I get to the end of this tunnel
If you could keep me floating just for a while
I’ll get back to you

In these words he narrates his longing to be fulfilled. Dave sings that he constantly wants what he does not have and he is continually searching for what will satisfy. As the band plays into the chorus we find the great lyricist looking to what will keep him floating to the next high, or next temporal thrill. The image we formulate is of a man who seeks for contentment but never finds it. Like a child who only eats chocolate and never partakes of any wholesome sustenance, we find a man who is malnourished and sick from being entertained by the transient pleasures of the world. (2 Cor. 4:18) The sobering realization that Dave presents to us is that, along with him, we also often find ourselves in the great search for contentment. To our eternal souls, the hunt for mundane and unsavory worldly thrills leaves us exhausted and decidedly disappointed.

Finding Answers

How then do we appease the deep-rooted desire for lasting delight? The answer we seek lies within the depths of the Gospel. The contentment we seek is from God and found in Him, but because of sin we are bent to solicit it elsewhere. The Gospel is the medicine to our disease. In the Gospel we find that true, lasting satisfaction is found in the man Jesus Christ. Where He dies in our place, for our sin, so that we no longer receive death as the just penalty for our sins, but instead experience new, abundant life with the hope of a heavenly citizenship. What we find at the cross is our great God and Savior making possible eternal life to be enjoyed in the all-satisfying presence of Him. The Gospel takes away our need for satisfaction found in temporal pleasures that quickly dissipate, and redirects our eyes to the eternal, life-fulfilling hope of the glory of heaven, to the glory of Christ!

Realize Your Busyness

The most important part of overcoming any sin is first to realize the sin.  How are we to fight against something we don’t see?  As long as we remain blind to an issue we will never raise arm against it.  When sin, any sin, remains hidden it becomes like cancer in that it silently eats away at your health and kills you from within.  To continue to be healthy we must be aware of what might be killing us.  Let me note two things here.  First, the only way that anyone will recognize sin is if the Spirit reveals it to him or her, and second, those who struggle with a self-righteous busyness will be the less likely to notice their sin because rarely do they slow down to contemplate the areas of weakness present in their life.  This brings me to another practical.

Find Solitude

If we desire to see the Spirit reveal the sins we are blind to, should we not attempt to place ourselves in an environment where He is apt to move?  An environment that is free from distractions, removed from temptation to occupy lulling time, and fitting to harbor contemplation and reflection.  This reality hit home with me when I heard pastor Mark Driscoll teach on the importance of solitude.  I rarely find time to separate myself from the demands of my world.  Most of the time I am always chasing some useless form of busyness.  How can I ever expect to hear from the Spirit if I am always entangled in the unavailing busyness of my life?  In order to encounter the sinful areas of your life, you must spend time looking.

The Not-So-Busy Busy

I have also noticed that much of my day is often consumed with many mindless tasks.  These tasks aren’t necessarily sinful or evil, but they serve the purpose of filling empty or lulling time.  Most of us have an inherent feeling that we always need to be doing something or always have to be entertained, which leads us to fill our slow moments with busyness that is not so busy.  I have found it useful to capitalize on these not-so-busy busy times by either reducing the period of time spent in them or by changing the way I engage in the certain activity.  Here is a list of activities I have either reduced or changed my involvement with:

• Social Networking: Reduce

Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and email consume huge chunks of my day.  I find that these are the outlets used to medicate the disease of boredom that runs rampant in our generation.

• Work-out: Change

Working out is a great opportunity to reflect and pray over the day.  Take out the tunes and connect with the Father.

• In-between Time: Change

The time we spend in between meetings, or classes is a great setting to read a book or journal.  I often spend this time sending ridiculous text messages, or calling people I don’t really need to talk too.

• Sleep Habits:  Reduce

This is a sacrifice I far to often don’t make.  Wake up earlier to meet with our Savior before you get lost in the bustle of the busy day.

• Shower Time:  Change

Most of us spend 5 to 10 minutes in the shower at least once a day.  Instead of using this time to exercise our vocals, we could use it to engage Jesus.  The shower is a magnificent place to battle in prayer.

Take it or Leave it

I hope that these practical applications will help you fight to find accomplishment in Christ and God’s acceptance of you based on the cross.  Take what works for you and leave what doesn’t.  My encouragement to you is to find what helps you battle, and fight well!

Moses had a unique relationship with God. He did not have to interpret a book or search for the meaning of a dream God had given him, God spoke to him plainly. God spoke openly with him like we would speak to a trusted friend in a private room where there were no other ears but ours. That kind of conversation. That kind of plain talk. What an unbelievable claim! The creator and source of all matter, all wisdom, all power, all life, all joy,all justice, all love talked to Moses in this way. But this produced something unique in Moses.

One would think that such access to and relationship with God would produce a very proud and arrogant man. Why not feel special and a sense of entitlement? Who else has such a relationship with the Almighty? But Moses becomes the most meek man on the planet. Why would such privilege produce humility? It is not something special about Moses but something special about God. The LORD is so much more grand and majestic than anything else that the more Moses knew him, the more meek he became. Wonder is the medicine for pride. As we stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon or the base of the Rockies we do not think, “I am so successful and important.” In that moment of awe, we feel our smallness and fragility as we get lost in their beauty and grandeur. How much more with the author of such things! Our interaction with the living God of the Bible will produce more meekness in us not because we are such humble people, but because of the pride crushing and wonder injecting realities of God.

Are we mimicking Moses’ meekness? If not, we must not be interacting with the same God.

A Need Awakened

Recently, our community has felt the burden of a downturn in the economy.  This is most vividly seen in the significant number of jobs lost within our church.  Seemingly enough it is a scary time for many of our families because the future holds little certainty.  As budgets grow tighter and we all become less self-sufficient, the awareness of a community’s need for dependence on one another is amplified.  It is the taxing seasons of life that often awaken the ever present need we have for each other. 

The Gene of Interdependence

From the beginning God has said, “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18).  Our creator’s initial design was for us to live in relationship with each other because He saw the benefit of us having one another.  God’s intention has always been that we live in community with each other and as a result depend on one another.  Community innately carries in its DNA the gene of interdependence.  Like a business that contains many divisions (i.e. Management, Accounting, Manufacturing, etc.) each striving toward the common goal of turning a profit, a healthy community has many persons striving to please God.  For the business to be as successful as possible there is interdependence within the individual divisions.  Community has the same need for interdependence to be successful. 

God’s Provision

A few months ago, a good friend was let go from his position at work and has been struggling to make ends meet.  The stress and worry of providing for a family is weighty enough to burden a man, and if it had not been for the community he and his family immersed in, then hope could have easily been lost.  However, because he allowed us to shoulder some of the burden, God provided.  As he depended on God to provide for his needs, the rest of the community was able to sacrifice what God had lent to them because they also trusted God to provide for their own needs.  What we learn is that dependence on each other is only possible when the community is first dependent on God to provide.

More to Dependence

Dependence on one another goes far past provision of financial needs.  We need one another to fight sin, to be encouraged, and to mourn with, just to name a few.  This communal act of dependence should fully cover our lives as we look to and trust God to provide.  Functioning apart from one another is “not good.”  (Gen. 2:18)  Let us not neglect clinging to each other through community and depending on God to provide all things.