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DON’T Lean on Me, When …

For many generations, the church in the West has been able to float lazily along on an inner tube because the current of culture was flowing in roughly the same direction.  And so, we fell asleep, not realizing that in the past few decades the current has reversed its course.  Like the frog in the pot that tolerates each increased degree of heat until it boils, Christians need to recognize what is happening to us and why.

I.  John 8:31-47.  Jesus addresses “the Jews who had believed him” and yet contrasts them with true disciples who abide in His word, know the truth, and do the works of God.  It wasn’t enough for them to be descended from Abraham if the shriveled and wormy fruit they were showing was that of their father, the devil.  The same goes for those who point to their baptism into Jesus for the forgiveness of sins but who are blinded by complacency in their faith or whose hearts are hardened by compromising with the culture.  These love the world more than they love God (John 12:37-43).

II.  1 John 2:15-17.  As we float along on the wide river that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), we can take too much confidence that we differ from those drowning around us in degree but not in character.  What Eve reasoned in her mind to justify disobedience to God (Genesis 3:2-6) is exactly that which describes those who love the world.  The current of culture affects the love we have for God, which should be with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Luke 10:27-28), and therefore our obedience (John 14:15) and the seeking of His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

III.  1 Corinthians 1:18-25.  We’ve all heard Bill Withers’ song, “Lean on Me” that, if promoted, can be a false comfort from one not aware of himself floating with the current of culture.  Rather, we must stick to Paul’s model of comforting and demonstrating of the Christian life (1 Corinthians 11:1).  Our understanding before we became Christians was not to be trusted (Proverbs 3:5-6), so should it not be leaned on if we are complacent or compromised Christians.  Rather, we must lean on God’s wisdom as found in His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Avoiding the world’s wisdom (2 Timothy 3:1-5), we must walk in the light and awaken (Ephesians 5:7-14).

We must all jump out of the pot that is almost at boiling.  We must all sit up on our tubes and paddle furiously upstream. How much have you let tolerance of the world affect you?

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Is It Better For You …?

In the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip, Calvin often played calvinball, a game in which the rules were always changing to benefit him.  That’s how “Christian chameleons” often treat the truth, changing it to appeal to a wider audience, blend in better with the culture, or benefit themselves in some way.

The question we need to ask is: are we seeking to please self or God?

I.  Judges 18:3-20.  When Joshua divided the promised land among the tribes of Israel, God scattered the Levites throughout the tribes to remind them of His covenant and Law.  In the previous chapter, the Levite was so glad to be employed by Micah that he never says anything against his master’s carved image, household gods, or the location of worship.  When 600 armed Danites ask him if it was better to serve one man or a whole tribe, the Levite goes with them, never mentioning God, the tabernacle, proper worship, what God desired, or the need to be holy as God is holy.

II.  1 Timothy 4:16.  When we don’t watch our life and doctrine closely, we fall into selfishness and sin or compromise truth because of cultural pressures.  In both cases we stray from being a true worshiper in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), become a friend to the world (James 4:1-4), and seek to please self rather than God (2 Corinthians 5:9).  Rather, we must seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and do everything in word and deed in His Name (Colossians 3:17).

III.  Ezekiel 22:23-30.  During the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel tells us how those who should have been standing firm on truth had strayed in their duties.  He lays God’s charges against the priests, princes, prophets, and people and ends with the lament that there was no one to stand in the breach.  This was true in the time of judges, captivity … but not today.  Jesus stood in the breach for us by the cross and then turned His work over to His followers to be the light of the world (John 9:1-5).

Are you?  Will you stand in the breach to tell a sinful world the saving message of the gospel?  Or will you compromise with the culture?  Will you do what is pleasing to you or God?  You cannot live your live by “Is it better for you …?”  Rather, it should be “Is it better for God …?”

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Let Them Save You

Idolatry.  That’s so Old Testament!  After all, no one today worships something they put before God … oh.  Well, maybe there’s money and materialism, success and sensuality, jobs and hobbies, food and entertainment.  Perhaps the list could even extend into all the negative ways we seek to escape the stress of life instead of putting our trust in God.

What’s the reason the cycle of sin in the time of Judges as well as now continues to repeat in God’s people?  What is it about idols that made them and us forsake God, so that they and us cry out for a deliverer?

I.  Judges 10:6-16.  God knew that mankind, if given the chance, would turn to other things than Him and so carved it into stone (Exodus 20).  The foundation of idolatry is covetousness (Colossians 3:5).  We are made in God’s image, but since we cannot control God, we strive to make God in ours.  Instead of taking joy in being God’s chosen people, we compromise to become like everyone else.  And then we become complacent because what we serve is not greater than ourselves.

II.  Romans 1:15-16.  How can the gospel break the cycle of sin.  Our world of relative morality works to make us believe that sin and judgment aren’t real and so paves the way for idolatry.  At times in Judges, God’s people would temporarily break the cycle by acknowledging their sin.  We must be convinced that repentance is essential (Romans 2:2-5), judgment is real (Romans 14:10-12), and that the gospel is the solution (Romans 6:1-11).

III.  Hebrews 7:22-25.  But unlike God’s people of the time of Judges who would fall back into sin and idolatry when the judge died (Judges 2:16-19), we have a Judge, the perfect deliverer, who always lives to intercede for us.  Therefore, once rescued from sin and death, we never need to go back into the life we once lived.

Christians, who know the power of the gospel, need to return to trusting God fully and not seek idols of their own fashioning.

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Straddling the fence

By Landon Rowell

As a young boy I found myself in many peculiar situations. On one particular day my family and I were visiting my aunt and uncle. They had a “farm” and for city slickers like us it was an amazing place.

It just so happened that my uncle had an old motorcycle. Being as adventurous as I was I asked if we could drive it around. My uncle conceded after much begging and my brother and I set off to enjoy a day of driving around; it was just in circles around the pasture but it was exciting.

Like many stories go with those that are driving motorcycles I ended up, on the last go around, wrecking the bike and hurting my knee. As I was picked up and taken back toward the house there was a point that I will not soon forget, if ever. Continue reading “Straddling the fence”