If I were the devil, my first aim would be to stop folks from digging into the Bible.

J.I. Packer

Holier than Thou

Ray Ortlund's blog post this week is so good. He writes:
I was asked recently, "How come a stereotype of the church today is one of a 'holier than thou' mentality?"

Great question. It's a real problem. Three thoughts.

One, the problem is not sin in the church. The problem is concealed sin in the church. That problem is intensified by Christian aloofness: "You people over there have cooties. We Christians are better." Are we?

Two, when church people put others down, there are two possibilities. One, their faith isn't in Jesus' superiority. Their faith is in their own superiority. There is no awe, gratitude, humility, because they aren't really Christians. Two, they're new Christians, they're coming in with some baggage, and they're learning. And can any of us say, "I'd never do that"?

Three, if you accuse Christians of being judgmental, are you being judgmental? Do you feel that Christians are beneath you? Why are you so comfortable with your non-Christian friends? Does their company help you feel safe from Jesus? Is that what really bugs you about Christians -- you feel another Presence, and he scares you?

I know this. We Christians will see more repentance in our city when our city sees more repentance in us. And we can be honest about our failings, because it isn't our performance that makes us okay. It's Christ's performance for us. That's the gospel. It's so freeing.

The Judge and the judges

I'm preaching Sunday on Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees, teachers of the Law and the woman caught in adultery; it's the opener of a short series on "God's Scandal". This one is called "The Judges Meet the Judge".

I remembered my first taste of judging! I was probably only 8 or 9 when a family moved into our little town in Southwest Kansas. They weren’t much different from the rest of us; they were just poorer. They moved into an old ramshackle house -- really a shack -- and little by little, to us kids in school, they became the "untouchables." Their kids wore old, maybe dirty clothes; maybe they wore the same ones over and over (like me!). But they were slow in school.... and held back... and we judged and condemned them. We treated them like they were unclean! You couldn’t sit by one of them on the bus; you couldn’t touch their desk or their books; you couldn't even be near them in class. I shudder to think of the awful things we said and did in those early years of our lives. And I cannot imagine what it must have done to their hearts. We judged them and we condemned them as "unworthy".

John Fisher writes, "few activities in life rival the thrill of passing judgment on another human being. I don’t believe I can go a day on God’s green earth without in some way indulging in this forbidden art. It is the particular pastime of the self-righteous to hold court, and I have been long at the bar. For many, judgment and condemnation have become a way of life. The act of mental sentencing is the mind-set most readily available to those who have been neither willing nor prepared to bring their own actions, thoughts and motivations into the light." (Emphasis mine) From: 12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (like me).

Pride: the antithesis of Grace

"Grace humbles a man without degrading him and exalts him
without inflating him." Charles Hodge

God give us some national leaders…

…who will first be people of character -- then people willing to lead.
…who will attack problems with tenacity, creativity and perseverance, instead of wasting time attacking opponents.
…who will recognize that real evil exists in the world and it isn’t embodied in the opposing political party.
…who will be more concerned about people than their own image and ongoing power.
...who will appeal broadly to peoples, organizations and companies to take on common issues instead of pitting one against the other for stupid political advantage.
…who will be servant leaders, glad to serve and solve problems, then return to ordinary life after a few years.

Faithful??

I've been looking at the word "faithful" every morning, praying it will be what characterizes my relationship to Christ and to the individuals He places in my life.

I was challenged this morning by words I read from David Olford in Find Us Faithful: Leadership That Leaves a Legacy: "Rather, there is a more basic issue related to this issue of faithfulness which confronts all of us. It is the giving of our attention to priority concerns and matters while we have the God-given opportunity to do so. We never know how much time we have in any given relationship, responsibility, ministry or situation. And because of the awareness of the potential brevity of any season, we need to determine what really matters, what really counts and what really must be done. We must be occupied faithfully with what God wants us to be and do in any given relationship or situation before we have to say, 'Good-bye.'"

How far can Christ reach?

The film "Amazing Grace" (2007) chronicled the life and cause of William Wilberforce. He fought for most of his life to end the British transatlantic slave trade of the 19th century.

Wilberforce had made an earlier visit to his old pastor and friend John Newton. Newton was captain of a slave ship prior to his conversion to Christ. Wilberforce had earlier hoped that Newton would write an account of his slave ship days -- but he refused -- because the experience and the "20,000 ghosts" haunted him too greatly.

Near the end of the struggle to end slave trade, Wilberforce visited Newton and discovered, that the one who had written "Amazing Grace" had now written his full account. His eyesight now gone, Newton tells Wilberforce, "You must publish it. Names, records, ship records, ports, people—everything I remember is in here. Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I'm a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior."