The Core

I remember as a kid going to seminar on the satanic influences of rock music.  Now, there are certainly many popular songs that are sinful.  But Satan’s influence comes in numerous different ways, most of them seem innocent.  At this conference they talked about playing records backwards and other sensational aspects of satan’s music.  This is fine, I guess, but we are really open to his influence is in more subtle ways.  I want to discuss briefly three subtle ways that I believe Satan uses to distort reality and our views about God.

1)  The idea of Self-Esteem/Self-Confidence:
I believe one of the sneakiest lies every crafted by the devil is the lie that I can find significance, importance, and supreme value in my own person-hood.  This is so ingrained in us that it is almost hard to say that it is not Scriptural to have self-esteem or self-confidence.  You might say – come on preacher – we have to instill self-esteem and self-confidence in our kids.  We have to posses these traits to survive.  I say absolutely not!  We must drive self-esteem and self-confidence out of our children and out of our lives.

They key problem here is the word SELF.  Satan has used this tactic from the very beginning.  He told Adam and Eve that they could take it into their own hands to be like God.  You can be like God.  Self-Esteem means that we do everything in our power to feel good about ourselves.  But is this what the Bible teaches?  Where are we to derive our value?  Are we to derive our value from self or from someone outside of ourselves?  Read this passage,                                2 Corinthians 4:4-18:

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.  For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

In light of this passage, where are we to derive our value and confidence?  We have value.  We are to have unwavering confidence.  But this is not to come from SELF.  It is to come from Jesus!  It is to come from the truth about what he has done for us and about what he is doing in us.  It comes from the power of the Gospel, his death and resurrection.  This is why Paul says, “For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.  Amen.  (Galatians 6:13-18)

We must be about bearing the marks of Jesus, not SELF.  I could say more…but I will leave that for discussion. 

2) Relativism (Truth Originates With Self)
All of Satan’s methods revolve around one powerful theme.  Keep human beings thinking that they rule their lives.  Keep Tad on the throne of his life and I have Tad right where I want him.  This is true of the last topic and it is true when it comes to the very concept of truth.  Satan has done a great job teaching us to equate truth with our feelings and experiences.  Thus truth is relative to what I think or feel based upon my experience of the world.  This is called relativism. 

He did this to Eve.  What happened? “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”  Eve bought the lie that if it looks good and if I can make up a rationale for going against God’s demands than it is OK for me to eat.  Satan uses this all the time.  Why are we even discussing issues of homosexuality, porn addiction on the web, and adultery as problems in our churches?  It is because we have learned from the master to rationalize and relativize our lives.  I have heard the same lines over and over the past ten years when confronting people dealing with various sin.  Well, if only my wife was such and such I wouldn’t have a problem, or if he paid attention to me  I wouldn’t have had the affair, or God made me this way.  Satan has fed us more lines to use to make excuses for sin than all the sentences contained in the library of Congress.  He is the master of relativism.  The idea that I create truth.  Where do we find truth – Jesus said, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  His word is truth.

3)  Pluralism (Salvation is Sefl-Originating)
Pluralism is the concept that anyone who sincerely worships and practices their religious beliefs will be granted eternal life.  Pluralism says that all roads lead to heaven, but what matters is sincerity.  Or basically, self is all that matters in religion.  I hope I do not have to say to much on this one.  This is why I adamantly believe in a God-Centered gospel opposed to a man-centered gospel.  We have no ability to earn salvation.  We have not strength of will to choose salvation.  We are born dead in our trespasses and sins. And by his love and grace God pursues us, calls us, regenerates us so that we can run to him, clinging to his grace for our salvation alone!  Salvation is not a matter of self-willingness.  It is a matter of the God’s glorious, unmerited grace!

“…He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  John 8:44b

Satan is a great adversary and his number one weapon is distorting the truth and spinning a factory of lies.

I want to link to Frank Turk’s post which is a theological reflection on the Virginia Tech shooting.  This is very insightful and I really hope everyone will take the time to read this.  When you are finished think about your salvation and the truth that the Gospel is the solution.

Here’s the link:  www.centuri0n.blogspot.com    

We did not touch very much on creationist theories regarding God’s work in creation.  I mentioned briefly the intelligent design movement and demonstrated a few (in a very elementary fashion) of their arguments.  If anyone has any ideas they want to toss around, now would be the time.

As I mentioned, I am a young earth guy who believes in a literal six day creation.  I believe one can hold this position and still be in harmony with true science.  I reject all scientific opining on origins that deal only with naturalistic assumptions.  I believe that this is not science.  Science must deal with things that are observable and testable.  This is why my view of creation is biased towards the authority of Scripture on the matter.  Now, others will say that Scripture says something quite different than a literal six day creation.  I am fine with that, although I don’t agree.  The cultural battle of origins will never be won if Christians are committed to fighting one another.  We need to inject reasonable and rationale arguments for intelligent creation into the public sphere that demonstrate the fallacies of naturalism as a worldview and force the naturalist academy to admit their own religious beliefs that cloud their scientific judgement.

Sorry I did not post last week…I had a crazy week in Arizona doing some mission trip planning with Chad Mann.  I would like to reflect today about yesterday’s topic of the resurrection. One truth that has always been a part of my spiritual DNA and that I pray will become a part of Harvard’ s DNA is that every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. 

We had about 150 more people in attendance yesterday than on a “normal” Sunday morning.  I realize that a certain number that attended are family members of our regular attenders.  But, part of that number is that most members all come to church at the same time because we don’t want to miss Easter Sunday.  The challenge is for us view every Sunday as extremely crucial  to our spiritual lives.  Not because there are special events, activities, etc.  We should come ready every week to corporately worship our King.  To sing, pray and hear His word proclaimed as a body is at the core of our Christian faith.  We should come every week to celebrate the reality of the risen savior.

What should be normal for believers is that almost nothing can keep us from our church family on Sunday.  The writer of Hebrews proclaims, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Now this passage gives us three positive commands and in the middle of the passage he tells us one sure fire way to fail in these matters. 

First, he says to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  This is in the present active form which literally means – keep on holding fast the confession of our hope.  If we neglect the assembly we put ourselves in danger of losing hope, of being discouraged.  God gave us the body so that we maitain hope in our faith and in the faithfullness of our savior.

Second, the writer says for us to consider something.  We are to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.  WOW, here is a revolutionary thought!  I am not to attend on Sunday simply for myself.  I am to attend considering how to stir up my brothers and sisters in Christ to love and to do good works.  I am to be stirred and I am to stir!  This literally means that I am to provoke, incite, stimulate, and sharpen others while they do the same to me.  We do not come to be passive recievers but to be active engagers.  There is no way I can accomplish this if I am there only half the time.  There is no way I can be stirred-up if I am gone all the time.  WOW – this is getting good.

Finally, he says we are to encourage one another.  If we put this in the negative it goes like this, “When I neglect my church it is discouraging to my brothers and sisters in Christ.”  When I fail to be committed to the body, not only can I not encourage the body, but I become a source of discouragement to the body of Christ!

Have you ever thought about church attendance in these terms? If not, ponder all the possibilites and the impact you can have in your local church body by following these three exhortations.