Choose Your Own Adventure

Reading for me as a kid only became bearable in school when I discovered the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.  It wasn’t the great stories that caught my attention, rather it was the gold star I got for reading a whole book even if my demise came after only a couple of pages. I chose the simple most comfortable path for me.

Many of us can approach the Christian life like this in two devastating ways.  First, we can choose our adventure so that our lives are “easy.” Even for those of us who would rightly dismiss “your best life now” kind of Gospel may still want a life without suffering or difficulty.  We want to know Christ like Paul expresses in Philippians 3:9-10a, but would like to avoid 10b where Paul says that he desires to share in Christ’s “sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  In our flesh this cannot compute, we want predictable lives because predictability creates a sense of security and security breeds comfort and comfort gives us the illusion of control, which confirms a flesh-based ambition to be god-like.

We want the hope and comfort Christ offers us but ignore other aspects of living in Christ in this world to the side.

In other words, Christ can be turned into an idol. Through our insecurities, we choose our own adventure we reshape the goodness of Christ lifted-up on the cross and raised from the grave into an idol that we can manipulate. Yet our “adventure” comes at a cost, we end up with a “plastic” version of biblical joy, now severed from Christ. The Christian life is defined by joyously loving Christ and suffering the consequences of such love as we swim against the current of the world. Plastic versions prefer not to live as Christ did, “in the far country” (Luke 9:57-62).  

The church in the West continually chooses its own adventure to avoid swimming against the current.  The last 60 years are a clear demonstration of giving away truth to go with the flow. We give up speaking truth in love so that we might be loved by the world.  We’d rather participate in darkness rather be children of light that expose it. 

Let’s face it’s easier and a whole lot less complicated.  We won’t have to confront the sins of the world that are present in our church’s, in our friends’ or relatives’ lives, or our own.  We can live in the comfort of knowing we haven’t made anyone upset.  We get to have our cake and eat too, acceptance from the world and we have the “joy” of the cross. 

Yet we miss out on the promise of Christ and reveal we’re not alive to the Christ’s beauty. The Puritan, Richard Sibbes once warned that, “Christ was never more lovely to his church than when he was most deformed for his church.” Common sense, or the sin of the world, is ever present in our churches because we insist on choosing our own adventure, just check Paul’s description of the church in 2 Tim. 3:1-9. Being alive to Christ means we’re captured by him and desire to join him in his ways.

This first approach is reinforced by the second. The church doesn’t know its Bible.

We don’t intimately know the whole council of God since we don’t read it all on a regular basis. Many of those who claim Christ as Lord read the story of God as though it were a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book to get credit of having read it and their ears tickled. We avoid and ignore parts of the Bible that are “boring” or “irrelevant” to our lives, say most of the OT. We jump around reading only the bits we like therefore it have been decades since you’ve even open certain parts of your Bible.

Let me invite you to an incredible adventure.  Jump in the Bible and read it like a novel. From beginning to end at a fast pace (say 3 months or less) and discover the character of our Triune God. As God reveals his heart to you, tell him your concerns.  Let him know that some of his story is boring to you (it could be heart problem not a God communication problem). Maybe even skim some places to get through the story a bit faster (Leviticus, 1 Chronicles 1-8 or so).  But maybe you’ll discover the boring parts offer incredible depth to the bits that you love (say the Leviticus - Hebrews connection). You’ll discover a story and a life that’s far better, far more joyous, than the plastic versions we continue to pick for ourselves. Perhaps we discover we want to live an alternative lifestyle and swim against the current of this world since we have joy in Christ.

Bottom line, “choosing your own adventure” will guarantee you'll miss the Greatest Adventure with Jesus. 

The "I" In My Holiness

There's a subtle and natural hiss in the conversation that surrounds the pursuit of holiness--that is, it becomes inevitably centered on the unholy-trinity of me, myself, and I.  The traditional rendition of the "pursuit for holiness" warrants my personal effort to behave righteously; and sanctification, therefore, has as its central quality a personal introspection and responsibility.

Naturally, even if one couches a holy life as inside-out, union with Christ, and the response to justification by faith alone, the discussion could still revolve around outside behavior, visible sin, and the keeping of the Law.  Therefore, regardless of a commitment to the close connection of justification and sanctification, these two are separated into a gift and an obligatory effort. Sanctification becomes an autonomous effort, motivated by appreciation to God and empowered by enabling grace, to progress from one stage of holiness to the next.

The issue with this discussion, at a fundamental level, is an assumption that there's consensus on the biblical understanding of the word "holiness." What does it mean to be holy as God is holy? Typically you'll find holiness defined by God's transcendence and his difference from creation. "He is separate, distinct, not ordinary or common." Therefore, somehow with his enablement we are to live as distinct, separate and uncommon people.

But what does this mean? And is this Biblical?

First, as fallen and self-consumed people we'll project the qualities we value onto God and make them grander and "perfect."  So, as we delight in our glory above anything else, God too must also be consumed with his glory.  As we are motivated to be the top dog, God's primary concern is to have his omnipotence and authority recognized by his creation through obedience to his Law and ascribing to him glory.   Holiness, consequently, is God valuing the glory and power of his Name above anything and we must join him in this godly introspection.  So while justification imparts to us forgiveness from our sins and the ability by the Spirit to become obedient once again, it is  our job to give the required effort in aligning ourselves to God's holiness, obeying the Law and ascribing glory to God.

To answer the second part of my question, this is not biblical!  While one could, of course, offer proof texts to prove the Aristotelian list of god’s attributes (elevation of power as God's primary attribute, God as a naval-gazer and glory consumer), the God of the Bible doesn't reveal himself as this at all. Such a "god" wouldn't have created the world nor humbled himself to redeem it. 

Furthermore,  just think of Philippians 2, Psalm 113, Isaiah 53, well, actually the whole Bible, we find a God who reveals himself as one who is outward-looking, self-giving, humble, and whose name is Emmanuel.  God describes his glory or the goodness of his character in Exodus 34:6-7:

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin . . .

God is patient, merciful, loving, and seeks justice (a very loving thing to do). The rest of the Bible uses this passage as a primary source to define the character of God.  Such character finds its culmination in John 12; here Jesus reveals his Father and the character of the Triune God dead and naked on the cross. Why the cross you ask? So that the glory Jesus had with the Father before creation of the world would be given to us.  That is the glory of the Father loving the Son and the Son loving the Father by the Holy Spirit.  Christ in us and us in Him, just as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (see John 17).

What is holiness?  It's the label for mutual indwelling of the Father and Son by the Spirit.  The Father humbly loving his Son above all, and the Son loving his Father above himself and his concerns.

So what does it mean to be holy as our Triune God is holy? To be separate and distinct from the unclean: selfish, glory-grabbing, power-hungry human beings.  Holiness is to be united to Christ by the Spirit given to us who pours God's love into our hearts.  To be holy is not to look at self, but to have the gaze of our hearts fixed on the loveliness of our Savior, our friend.  It is to call our Bridegroom's Father, Abba!

If you walk away reading anything on holiness and find yourself thinking about self rather than one who is holy, may I suggest that there might be a few missing letters in your h _ _ i _ _ ss.  Because sin is an all-consuming self-focus.  Any pursuit of holiness that returns us to gaze on self only makes us more like the Enemy than Christ.

Sanctification is the process of an ever growing and ever deepening love for Christ.  It's not the individual endeavor to fight off sin with the enablement given by the Spirit (like a tool we now get to use for ourselves).  Nor is it just looking back to the moment Christ saved us.  It's going from glory to ever increasing glory (in the Exodus 34, John 12 & 17, 2 Cor. 3 sense). As we cling to Christ by the Spirit with all that we have, and as our hearts warm by the fiery coals of his love, then we will freely, delightfully, and naturally be holy as He is holy.

Lovers of Love

Near the end of the Song of Solomon the bride speaks of love as an uncontrollable force that cannot be quenched or overpowered.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm

for love is strong as death,

jealousy is fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very flame of the LORD.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it,

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his house,

he would be utterly despised. (8:6-7)

The power of love is rarely acknowledged in our everyday lives as the indomitable force behind all that we think and do. In other words, we don't see the Bible describing a reality where we have a free will that chooses between two opposing opposites. Rather it assumes our minds and wills are mere instruments of our hearts.  The heart, as the motivational center, controls and dictates to the mind what to think and the will what to choose. Therefore, the object of our affections controls us.  With this in mind, I want to take a look of one particular danger about having a tameless tiger in our chest--that is, the danger of loving love.

As a pastor I became aware that many might be attracted to Christianity, not on account of Christ, but the love they received from those who love Christ.  Now you may think, isn't this the way it should work? As we love people won't they often eventually come to love Christ?  Yes we should evangelize by offering love to others!  But as we invite people to love Christ by loving on them, potentially they could come to love the love they receive and not Christ.

Given the reality of us being bound by the affections of our hearts, and our fallen hearts being completely bent on loving self, it shouldn't surprise us that someone might love being loved.  Let's face it, someone might function like this, "I love me and I love it when people love me."  Not that this is a conscious thought, but people who've experienced abuse or abandonment might easily fall in love with the love they've rarely received.

In some situations its obvious that one loves love: they begin to take advantage of others, they only show up when they've had a rough day and they need to be loved, or they just don't really seem to want to know why you've loved them.   But in others cases, the lover of love begins to play the part of a Christian. They begin to come to everything, they begin to read their Bibles, and maybe profess a belief in Christ. But when the person who has loved them goes away for a time the lover of love gradually, if not quickly, goes back to their old ways.

This reminds me of Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560).  He was a brilliant humanist scholar who fell in love with love.  As one of Martin Luther's most devoted followers, he was swept up by the wave of Luther's passion for Christ, zealous rejection of Scholastic Theology, and the need for reformation.  "All of Aristotle's works," according to Luther, "are the worst enemy of grace."  It was a tectonic shift for Melanchthon to agree with Luther’s "Aristotle was to theology as darkness is to light."  Prior to Melanchthon's encounter with Luther his main ambition was to compile a Greek edition of Aristotle's works that hadn't previously existed in the West.  Instead he wrote his 1521 Loci Communes, a book that summarized Luther's theology so well that Luther, with tongue firmly in his cheek, suggested it should have been canonized.

Yet this rejection of Scholastic Theology and his full devotion to Luther's theology didn't last.  In Luther's absence and under the pressure of other events, Melanchthon retreated back to Aristotle. The three latter editions of his Loci Communes completely abandoned the bondage of the free will, which according to Luther was the "hinge" at the center of his reformation.  Melanchthon had gotten caught up in the tidal wave of the man, but when the wave was gone Melanchthon made his way back to his first love, Aristotle.

Knowing the powerful dictator inside, we can't be subtle about the reasons for our loving others.  Being aware that people could fall in love with love or really just make the giver of love into a Christ-like figure, we must make it clear that we love because we are loved.  Love isn't the end or the goal; rather, pleasing Christ is our motivation, he is the end and he is the goal. We must be clear that it’s a love for Christ, who loved us and esteemed us first, that frees us to love. This won't stop fallen people from being lovers of love, but it makes Christ the source and reason for our love of others.  This isn't mechanical or fake, but as we love Christ, who has loved us first, we begin to love what Christ loves. Thankfully he loves all of us with a love that cannot be measured nor exhausted even when we get an eternity to explore it.

Fear of Freedom

One of the prevailing responses to the message of free-grace or the freedom found in Christ is fear. This fear has as its basic assumption that free-grace in Christ won't actually lead to good works, but leads to inactivity at best or licentiousness at worst. Instead, one must see the Law as God’s means to sanctify his people to enjoy communion with him. The differences between free-grace preaching and nomist-sanctification were one of the reasons for the eruption of three separate Antinomian (or Free-Grace) Controversies in England and New England from 1610-1640.

The initial controversy began in the 1610s & 20s when John Eaton preached against what he referred to as the re-emergence of the Galatian heresy. He believed he saw a new spiritual tradition emphasize the Law as a means to cause spiritual growth. Taking the advice of John Fox's preface to his translation of Martin Luther's Lectures on Galatians (1535), Eaton used Luther's work to confront what he thought was an unlawful use of the Law. Law, for him, was meant only to make one aware of sin and the need for Christ, not to bring about righteousness. Apart from the Law Eaton taught that justification and sanctification are "inseparable companions", that is "justification causes sanctification" and that "justification causes love."

"The ... main point of showing the majesty and utility of this benefit of justification, is, that the true joyful knowledge of justification is the only powerful means to regenerate, quicken, and sanctify us. It makes us truly to love, fear, and trust in God. Justification works in us the true Evangelical repentance. That is, sincerely hating sin, because it is sin, and in truly loving all holiness, and righteousness. And thus it is God’s holy fire that enflames his people with right thankful zeal of God’s glory, in careful and diligent walking in all God’s commandments, by willing, cheerful and readily practicing of all duties of love, both towards God and our neighbours." (Honey-Combe, 459)

Free-grace could never lead to sin, for Eaton, only using law to bring about righteous living could do that.

Fundamentally, Eaton linked justification to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who unites us to Christ and "inflames our hearts with true love, Gal. 5:6" (Honey-Combe, MMv2). To preach law to the believer and direct their hearts to focus on their sin would distract them from the beauty of Christ which enflames their hearts to please Christ. He trusted that to love God and focus on him would cause anyone to become like him--holy. This reality cannot come by the Law but only by true union with Christ.

"But, where this rich and loving husband, Christ, takes as a wife this poor and wicked harlot, redeeming her from all evils, laying all her sins upon his shoulders. Whereby they are swallowed up in him as darkness is swallowed up in the sunbeams (Isa. 44:22). For it behoves that all sin be swallowed up at the sight of Christ, clothing and enrobing her with his own righteousness, and garnishing her with his own jewels. Whose hearts, hearing these things, will not melt for very joy, and wax ravished for very love of Christ, having received so great consolation? Any Laws or works can never possibly attain this love at all." (465)

The fear that only inviting people to love Christ and to do what they want would lead to reckless and lawless living misses two things. First, that the person of the Spirit unites us to Christ, dwells in us, and continues to pour God's love into our hearts. As the Spirit is the love who unites Father and Son, he is the love who unites us to Christ.   From this union comes the fruit of faith, hope and love. And second, this fear ignores the compelling nature of love, which is the greatest and fulfils all the law.

In a similar vein to Eaton, a hundred years later, Jonathan Edwards in his Charity and Its Fruits and Treatise on Grace would affirm much of Eaton's Luther-Galatian-based-polemic.

"That love will dispose one to all proper acts of respect to both God and men. This is evident because true respect to either God or men consists in love. If a man sincerely loves God it will dispose him to give him all proper respect. Men need no other incitement to show all proper respect but love. Love to God will dispose a man to give honour to God. Love will dispose to worship and adore him, heartily to acknowledge his greatness and glory and dominion. So love will dispose a person to all acts of obedience to God." (Charity, 94)

So, how do we grow in Christ? Paul's answer in Galatians is to walk with Christ in the same manner that we first received him, in faith by the Spirit. Not by looking to the Law, that wouldn't be standing firm in our freedom in Christ but returning to the yoke of slavery. Does this freedom lead to sin? By no means! If anything our freedom will produce great works abounding in joy and delight in Christ with the motive to please Christ.

Fear of licentiousness that comes from preaching the gospel as free-grace usually doesn't engage the issues of true union with Christ by the Spirit or heart-centred human agency. This fear produces unnatural results, like introducing law as the basis of marital communion with Christ, but a law-based relationship would be disastrous. It is utterly alien to have marriage centred on anything other than your love for your spouse.

We've been set free from the Law and sin to live for and love Christ; we haven't been freed from the law for the law. There's nothing to fear, there is only freedom to enjoy.

Thankfulness for Weakness

It’s nearly impossible to escape humility this time of year. We sing and celebrate Emmanuel, the Creator uniting himself with his creation.   I know there’s no need to elaborate how humble that Christmas event was. Let’s just say he arrived in poverty—socially and financially; not with the drama many of us would have planned.

But that isn’t necessarily the case; the truth actually is that we wouldn’t ever have come at all. Even if our arrival were met with “divine” proportions of pomp & circumstance. Why? Because creation would be beneath us, in our pride it would never cross our minds to enter the world to save it. We do something far more convenient, like throw away this old broken world and start all over.

This is where Christmas, or I should say, Christ’s ethic changed the world.

Just think about today, if you live in Europe or the States the ethic of humility has deeply shaped who you are, even if you’re an atheist.  Prior to Christ, in the West power and strength were the cultural good. Weakness was seen to display dangerous vulnerabilities.

Humility was evil, never noble. Not until the Noble King came as a babe, lived in obscurity, and died for the world on a torture device did humility and compassion become virtuous. And we see the effects of that today; we find secularists and atheists with no belief in Christ offer care to refugees fleeing a place where power and strength reaped destruction.

God has clearly demonstrated that the power of his self-less (or humble) love has changed the world. Such charitable actions would not be part of our culture without Jesus. Humility, weakness, selfless love has powerfully altered the world.

This brings me to the main point of this blog. Too many Christians in the West seem not to believe that weakness or humility can change the world.

Why do I say this? Well, do you hear many preachers boast of their weaknesses? I mean real ones, not just “safe” ones. True weakness is reserved for our prayer journals or for our closest confidants. We present ourselves with having it all together. We don’t want anyone to know (even though they probably already know) where we’re weak.

We would boldly celebrate and thank God for our weakness if we actually understood its power, nor feared its “costs.” And I, for one, want to go there.

From my closest family members to those who have known me for any length of time typically describe me as “passionate.” Now some of my greatest compliments and achievements have come from my zeal for what I believe and my love for Jesus. Even before I was a Christian, passion and zeal was a fruitful characteristic of mine.

But, some of my greatest failures and sin have been directly related to my passion and wearing my heart on my sleeve. My greatest strength is clearly my greatest weakness.

I’ve known this for a long time now, ever since my wife pointed it out to me in the early days of our marriage.   All too often my unruly passion can be as destructive as it can be productive. I’ve hated this; it has been a significant source of sin in my life. I’ve asked God numerous times, in all kinds of ways, to take this from me. And my wife would attest the answer to that prayer has been a resounding “No.”

Here’s why I’m starting to think God has kindly said no to me. As I’ve fixed my eyes on Jesus by giving him thanks in all circumstances, I’ve discovered all circumstances include “passionate” moments of weakness.

This doesn’t mean I’ve just given myself an excuse for this weakness in my life and disregard the sin it reveals. Rather, I’m thanking God that I need him in my weakness. Especially when having passion is a positive quality for me—and potentially an “impressive” strength. Instead I find even the positive features of passion remind me of my weakness and my dependence.

I believe only from this place of dependency can we hear the Spirit’s voice communicating the Father’s heart, “I love you, I’m with you, I’m for you, I got this” in moments my passion may be destructive. Only here does the Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control grow from us. Here the destructive forces of sin in my God given areas of strength are thwarted.

Strength is made perfect in weakness. Without the weaknesses in our strengths we’d most likely never actually discover our need for God. We’d become conceited and live as though we don’t need him or anyone else. This is where Paul boasting in his weakness begins to become real and applicable to all of us (2 Cor. 12). Rather than something that we don’t get and so move on; I mean who’s going to boast, “Hey, I’m unkind … don’t you think that’s great!” No one! And it’s not great.

Our weakness in our strengths creates a great opportunity to depend on God in all moments of life. So it’s possible that no matter how much I ask God to take away my uncontrollable passion he’ll reply to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So with Paul I conclude, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. 12:9).” I’m thankful for “when I’m weak, then I am strong (1 Cor. 12:10).”

Hating weakness and sin in our life is just one of the beginning fruits of loving God. But I’m beginning to realize that hating sin isn’t enough. Actually I could easily use that hate to autonomously attempt to fix myself. Hating sin just means you don’t accept it any more. In thankfulness comes dependency and humility. Thankfulness says you’re God, I’m not, and I trust you’ve got this.

To end where I started, God said to Paul, “My power is made perfect in weakness,” don’t we see that in Emmanuel? The Word of God became the perfect Savior through suffering and humility, and in this “weakness” he defeated the prince of this world with all the darkness and power that goes with him (Heb. 3:10; 5:8-10).   God made in the West humility & compassion virtuous, and brute force evil. I’m not only thankful for Emmanuel for giving me life, but I’m thankful for the weakness that ever keeps me in need of him. May you join me in this adventure of being thankful for weakness and being strong in Christ.

Life: It's Black & White

Life according to Jesus, Paul, and John is black and white.  You either love darkness & hate the light, or you love light & hate the darkness.

Where’s the middle ground in all this? Where’s the grey area? Only in our rationalizations that make us believe that “I’m a good person if I do [fill in the blank]” do you find the “moderate middle.” In other words the grey area is really just rationalization of sin.

Now while it’s clear that we’re either sons of darkness or sons of light, there’s a great subtle complexity to this black and white reality we find in the Gospel. That is, once we see and are captured by the love of God revealed in his Son on the cross and poured into our hearts by His Spirit, we enter into the now-but-not-yet tension.  We still reside in the brokenness of this flesh and the realm ruled by the prince of this world, yet we are alive eternally to the Father-Son-Spirit God (Romans 8).   And the truth is, in this place we find ourselves in, we can easily fall back into the ways of the flesh rather than follow the ways of the Spirit.

I might be tempted to go into all the ways we can equip ourselves to conquer our sinful hearts, the things we must do to become fruitful, godly people.  But isn’t that just the way of the flesh not of the Spirit? It’s the way of fear and mistrust to come up with ways of self-improvement; it’s not the way of faith and trust in God to make us good soil that produces good fruit.

When we read or hear someone preach of the Spirit’s fruit (Gal. 5) or the parable of the sower (Mark 4; Luke 8) we automatically think, “I am not good soil”, or, “There isn’t enough good fruit in my life”, and then proceed to plan a way to make ourselves just that.  But again this is the way of the flesh; it’s the way of fear, not faith.

I think, no wait, I know that until we grasp the battle in our hearts in every moment to either live by fear or by faith we’ll never be truly be free in the way Christ came to set us free (Gal. 5:1).  Once we grasp in true absolute humility and helplessness that “I cannot make myself good, improve my life for God to like me more, I am not in control of my life” – only then are we free. Not until we come to the end of ourselves can we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and feel with our hearts the words of Jesus.  Without this helplessness, we’re still bound by the fear of our flesh and love of darkness.

Where am I going with this?

Well in the last few months in my life many significant things have been taken from me, things I didn’t think would happen (unless I messed up big time, hear the fear of flesh?).  But as of a couple weeks ago something happened completely out of my control.  The United Kingdom Visa & Immigration office determined that my missionary organization did not meet the requirements to continue to sponsor work visas. This is very disruptive to say the least! And my family is feeling it as we face saying goodbye to our home and friends.

Now, as we wait, the temptation is to take our eyes off Jesus and to look to ourselves.  It’s a little easier keeping our eyes on Jesus in this sense, we have absolutely no responsibility nor control in this decision by the UKVI.  Yet we are still tempted, motivated by fear, to look to ourselves for the rescue, which leads to anxiety and forgetfulness.   Once you are captured by these motivations it easily leads to all kinds of destructive outcomes: broken relationships, depression, unwise decision that abandon God, etc.

But in a circumstance like this there’s a great opportunity for thankfulness, yes thankfulness (1 Thess. 5:18).  In our helplessness we have the incredible clarity to say to God,  “I’m not God, you’re God, and I’m happy with this arrangement.” As we fear the Lord like this in our hearts we see Jesus.  We see him as a delight to our hearts, therefore the source of our purpose, life, and help. When the eyes of our hearts are captured by him we’re guaranteed to have joy and abound in thanksgiving no matter what.

This is where passages that I’ve taught, memorized, and meditated on come to life.  For instance Romans 5:1-5, it has always been foreign to think of rejoicing in my suffering, but in the midst of a helpless situation and looking to Jesus I can truly rejoice that I have him.   A joy in suffering which leads to endurance, then to character, and then to hope, which will never disappoint.  It’s not on me to do this in a period of suffering, but it’s merely a humble response to God offering his love to my heart by the Spirit.

In all circumstances the way of fear or the way of faith, death or life, evil or good, are placed before us and our choice always reveals our greatest affections: self or Christ.

It’s black and white.

Let me leave you with this thought, a thought that I’ve been blessed with as I’ve wrestled to keep my eyes on Jesus.  How will I face the day of my death? If I fight and claw for my home, my friends, my ministry, my security and stability with fear and anxiety, then what will I be like when I face the most pinnacle moment of faith: looking death in the face?  Will I fight for the last moments of life that I have no chance of keeping, or will I look to Jesus?   I want to live free of Satan’s last grip on my life and peacefully join Jesus in the next life free from this wretched flesh.  So here’s to a life of holding onto everything loosely but holding onto the one I love with all my strength, which he powerfully works in me.

So I’m learning and here’s my invitation to all believers: look to Jesus and live!

Friendship with Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus! John 15:15 is an absolutely astonishing witness to the abundance of God’s goodness, how is it that the One in whom all things hold together wants to be my friend? I’m not just any acquaintance but a friend worthy enough to give his life for mine.   What does this say about Jesus? What does this say about his heart for those who follow him when he says: “you are my friends.”

Just like other labels for relationships, our experience in the darkness of the world can cloud how the Father-Son-Spirit God wants to relate to us. Let’s face it, friends have failed all of us and we have failed our friends. With that in mind, how do we grasp what it means for Jesus to say to us, “you are my friend”?

A good friend of ours at Cor Deo, Richard Sibbes (1577-1535), answered this question by painting a beautiful picture of friendship in general, and with Jesus specifically. Here are a few highlights from what he said about friendship. [All quotes are from Works, 2.36-7]

Friendship: united in love. Sibbes proclaims, “Friendship is the sweetness, intimateness, and strength of love. In our friends our love dwells and rests itself. Marital friendship is the sweetest friendship. All the kinds and degrees of friendship meet in Christ towards his spouse. It is the friendship of husband, of a brother; and if there be any relation in the world wherein friendship is, all is too little to express the love of Christ.”

Did you catch the indwelling nature of friendship? True friendship is a spiritual relationship, where two are in conversation, with the Holy Spirit intimately involved. It isn’t an effort for this love to dwell; rather it dwells restfully, comfortably. This we have in Jesus above all else!

Friends have the same heart disposition. “In friendship there is a mutual consent, a union of judgment and affections. There is a mutual sympathy in the good and ill one of another, as if there be one soul in two bodies. There be mutual friends and mutual enemies. ‘Do I not hate them,’ saith David, ‘that hate thee?’(Ps. 139:21).”

According to Sibbes, friends are in agreement with the things worthy of love and hate. Friends have the same ambitions in life that they must chase after together. At times it may mean holding the other accountable to that ambition, or at another time encouraging the other to keep going. It makes sense; it’s hard to imagine having this kind of friendship described above unless both were mutually in agreement that Jesus was worthy of love. Or it’s inconceivable to be a friend of Jesus while being an enemy of his Father who is Jesus’ ultimate orientation and disposition.

Friends are freely vulnerable. “There is a liberty which is the life of friendship; there is a free intercourse between friends, a free opening of secrets. So here Christ opens his secrets to us, and we to him … It is the office of the Spirit to reveal the secrets of Christ’s heart to us, concerning our salvation. He does not reveal himself to the world.”

Jesus doesn’t reveal the depth of his heart to everyone in the world but only to those who share his Spirit (1 Cor. 2:9-13). When we are united in our loves there’s a free flow of classified information.   Only our closest friends know our most sensitive top-secret thoughts or feelings. This is the case in healthy marriages, loyal friendships, and with our relationship with God. Without love, without trust, without free communication there is no life in a relationship.

Friends like each other! “In friendship, there is mutual solace and comfort one in another. Christ delights himself in his love to his church, and his church delights herself in her love to Christ. Christ’s delight was to be with the sons of men, and ours is to be with him.”

It’s obvious isn’t it? Friends delight to simply be with each other. Spending time with friends is easy, fun, and comforting. Just as we love to spend time with our friends just to be with them, so too Jesus delights to be with us, he likes spending time with us!

Friends mutually respect each other: “In friendship there is a mutual honour and respect one of another; but here is some difference in this friendship. For though Christ calls us friends, and therein in some sort brings himself down to us, yet we must remember that this is a friendship of unequals … He that inspires friendship with others will undoubtedly keep the laws of friendship himself, will count our enemies his enemies. The enemies of the church shall one day know that the church is not friendless.”

Friends treat each other as equals with full honor and respect. There’s no sense of difference or distinction in terms of equality. Obviously there’s differences, that’s what makes friendship and relationships possible and great; we complement each other. It’s not only that we honor and respect our friends, but that we fight for it. To have a friend is to have a friend who will fight for you. He will not let your name be disrespected. A friend may even fight for you when you don’t want him to, by risking relationship with you to communicate things you may not want to hear. Friends are fighters. We have this in Jesus, who gives us his honor and fights for us despite his rightful status as one who is above us.

Friends may fail, but Jesus won’t! “And as his friendship is sweet, so constant in all conditions … If other friends fail, as friends may fail, yet this friend will never fail us. If we be not ashamed of him, he will never be ashamed of us. How comfortable would our life be if we could draw out the comfort that this title of friend affords! It is comfortable, a fruitful, an eternal friendship.”

May you find in Jesus a friend whose love dwells in you, who shares the thoughts of his heart with you, who likes to be with you, who gives you honor and fights for it, and who will never fail you.