Category Archives: Pastoral Reflections
Speaking Truth
“We are from God; the one who knows God heeds us. Whoever is not from God does not heed us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
(1 John 4:6)
God has privileged me with opportunities to preach to His people for just over three decades at this point in my life. I have served as pastor of several congregations, and I have spent many years providing pulpit supply either for congregations who have no pastor of their own or whose pastor is away or on vacation. What never ceases to intrigue me is the response that people have to a sermon preached. Sometimes the response is a polite, “Thank you for the Word, pastor.” Sometimes the response is more academic: “I learned a lot about x — fill in the blank.”
What really intrigues me, though, is when people complain that the preaching hits too close to home and is not what the people were hoping to hear. For instance, I have had congregation members tell me, “Pastor, why are you always so negative about this sin or that sin?” and I have also had people say things like, “Pastor, life is hard; when I come to church I just want to hear things that will encourage me.” Indeed, the scriptures do encourage in their proper place. Yet, the Scriptures are also quick to rebuke us for the inherent sin to which we cling.
It seems that, when it comes to hearing a sermon, many people would rather have a pep talk than to encounter the Truth. This reality strikes me as odd because we wouldn’t expect the same response in any other context. When we take our car to the mechanic because the engine is making strange noises or is stalling out at inopportune times, we don’t expect the mechanic to tell us, “Just ignore that knocking sound; it will be fine.” No, we want to know what is wrong with the car and what needs to be done to fix it. When we go to the doctor, we don’t expect the doctor to dismiss our symptoms and tell us how wonderful our life is; we expect the doctor to accurately diagnose our problems and offer a remedy that will return us to health. Why, then, would we want a sermon we hear to do anything less?
Arguably, there are a lot of reasons behind this. The church tends to take a low view of sin as if it were not the cancer to our soul that it is. Many churches tend to pursue a style of worship that entertains, not worship that edifies. Such an attitude may attract attendees, but it does not attract mature believers who want a steady diet of the meat of God’s Word rather than mashed potatoes that need little energy to digest.
More importantly, Truth is more important to God than trivialities and pleasant promises of prosperity or comfort. And worship is first and foremost about God. Everything we do should and indeed, must, reflect divine priority. Worship is not designed to make us feel good; it is designed to honor our Creator and shape us into the image of Christ our Redeemer. If it does not do this, it is false worship and might as well be offered to one of the many Ba’als of this world. Preachers, remember that your call is to preach Truth. People, remember that one of the marks of True Faith is your willingness to submit to the Truth as God faithfully lays forth in Scripture and strive to live it out.
Peace and not Disorder in Worship
“For He is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
(1 Corinthians 14:33a)
Perhaps it is the Presbyterian in me, but as I survey the world of churches around me, I keep asking myself the question, “What does our worship communicate about the character of the God we worship?” As kids, growing up in church, we were often told that the Jesus people saw in us often spoke louder than words. Maybe a better way of making that point is to propose that if what you communicate with your lips about the Gospel is inconsistent with how you live your life, your life undermines your witness.
But what about your worship? Does that principle also hold true? Indeed, I would suggest that it does. Further, given the widely divergent approaches to worship found in the world around us, all of which purport to be “Christian,” it seems no wonder to me that those outside the Christian church think that in Christianity, anything goes. Sadly, if one surveys the world of worship around us, the unbeliever’s observation is pretty accurate.
When Paul weighs in on the matter, he asserts that worship should reflect the character of the God we are worshipping. In that context, he contrasts two unmistakably distinct ideas. He says that as God is a God of peace, not of disorder, so too our worship should be the same. The two words he contrasts here are ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) and εἰρήνη (eirene — the word from which we get the English word “irenic”).
The word ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) translates as a state of confusion or disorder. It can also refer to a state of unruliness that stands against the authority that has been established. The word is even used to speak of insurrections against those in authority (Luke 21:9). Five times this word is used in the Greek New Testament (Luke 21:9; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 2 Corinthians 6:5; 12:20; James 3:16). When found, it is never used in a positive sense and, according to James, it is the logical end result of jealousy and selfish ambition. In its one use in the Greek Translation of the Old Testament (Proverbs 26:28), ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) is the work of an unguarded mouth and reflects a hatred of Truth.
In contrast, there is εἰρήνη (eirene). We might be tempted to think that the opposite of ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) would be κατάστασις (katastasis — essentially the same word minus the alpha privative), but κατάστασις (katastasis) refers to a state of being or a way of life. One might argue that it is a means by which the status quo is preserved. Paul seems to be making a point to say that the worship in Christ’s church is not about the status quo or preserving a state of being. We are new creatures being conformed, day by day, into the image of Christ. We are not content with the status quo; we will only be content with peace: peace with God and peace with one another. Further, peace is not produced by disorder. Thus, we are to strive toward εἰρήνη (eirene) in our worship.
In the New Testament, εἰρήνη (eirene) is used 85 times and more than 250 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In Greek, εἰρήνη (eirene) means much more than a cessation of war and rebellion, but it also refers to a unified purpose, a sense of harmony between those in the bond of peace, and a desire for the well-being of those with whom you are at peace. In the context of worship, εἰρήνη (eirene) is about building up, whereas ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) is about tearing down (hence Paul’s earlier admonition in 14:26).
So, how does our worship reflect the character of God? Certainly, every man doing what is right in his own eyes is not a model that brings peace (see the book of Judges for an illustration of this principle!). Has God not shown us what He desires in our worship? Is it not governed by prayer? The Westminster Confession, Chapter 21.5 summarizes the remainder of what the Scriptures teach us about peaceful worship:
“The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear, the sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence, singing psalms with grace in the heart; as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ, are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: beside religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in a holy and religious manner.”
We refer to this as the “Regulative Principle of Worship,” because we recognize that when we worship outside of what God has commanded for us, we enter into confusion and we lose peace. Further, outside of our worship in submission to God’s Word and rule, our worship tends toward invention, narcissism, hedonism, individualism, injustice, selfishness, and ritualism. Moreover, none of these “isms” reflect the character of a God who is a God of εἰρήνη and not ἀκαταστασία.
Body Parts, All Things, and Ministry
“For though I am free from all, I made myself a slave to all in order that I might gain more of them. I became as a Jew in order that the Jews might be gained. To those under the law, as one under the law (though I am not under the law), that those under the law might be gained. To those without law, as one without law (though not being without the law of God but being in accordance with the law of Christ) in order that those without law might be gained. I became weak for the weak in order that the weak might be gained. I have become all things to all in order that in all things individuals might be saved. All this I do for the sake of the Gospel in order that I might jointly share in it with them.”
(1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would the seeing be? But now, God put into order each part, every one in the body just as He willed. If all were a single member, where would the body be? But now there are many parts but one body.”
(1 Corinthians 12:17-20)
The first of these two passages, without the tempering of the second, has led many men into pastoral burnout. The first is the Apostle Paul’s testimony: I will be all things to all people in the hopes of winning some to Christ. Everything the Apostle is — from his head to his feet to his time and his skills — is devoted to one end: the furtherance of the Gospel. As young men in seminary, we were awed by this model; we celebrated the idea of being consumed by one task, and we went forward into ministry. And, sadly, in doing so, we often neglected the tempering found in our second passage. In fact, in my first call out of seminary, I remember finding myself exhausted by the first until I was reminded of the second.
As I look back over 20 years of ordained ministry, it strikes me as to just how important Paul’s instruction about body parts happens to be. Again, for me, as a young minister, it became a lifeline because I cannot be all things to all people. Like the membership, ministers are part of the body, and body parts are designed to do certain things but not others. If the whole body were made up of eyes or mouths or hands, it would not function — frankly, it would not even be able to be alive. Does that mean that ministers ought to be excused from some duties in the church? Not at all. Yet, it does mean that we ought not to expect one organ to be overly efficient when it needs to function as something it is not.
I have spent many years in the trades, both before my years in ministry and as a bivocational minister; thus the analogy of tools is one to which I can easily relate. A screwdriver is designed to do one thing: turn screws. Yet, a flat screwdriver is often used as a makeshift prybar, scraper, or hammer. Will a screwdriver work in such a way? Yes, it will. Will a screwdriver be effective for these other tasks? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Will a screwdriver last the test of time if you use it for something it is not designed to do? The answer is probably not.
As a minister, I am a teacher at heart. There is nothing in this world that I would rather do than teach people how to understand God’s Word and apply it to their lives. This is what I was built to do, whether in the pulpit, the classroom, or on a keyboard, writing about such things. Yet, for some people, where they thrive is in a different context. Some people thrive as they sit with the sick and dying, ministering to the saints in their last days. Some people thrive when it comes to working with youth and pointing them to Christ. Some people thrive when it comes to the work of organizing the business of the church and keeping its financial affairs in place. Others thrive when doing street ministry, evangelizing the lost. All of these are essential parts of the ministry, and every pastor should be engaged in such tasks, but not every minister is designed by God to thrive in each of those contexts.
I am often in awe of those who have giftings that I do not share. I have spent many a day sitting with and praying with the dying, but if that were my primary call, I would be drained and spent very quickly. At the same time, I can spend all day parsing Hebrew verbs and digging into books to discern the meaning of a text and be left energized when the day is through; others would find themselves drained and distracted.
In the end, God has seen fit to place us together into one body of Christ. Everything must be done, and we will often find ourselves stretched to do the calling that God has laid before us. Nevertheless, we can be grateful that we are not alone. There are others that God calls to walk alongside us to do the work of ministry: most notably Elders and Deacons, but often other pastors in the community, like those who serve as hospice chaplains or prison chaplains.
In the end, the body has parts, and the parts are designed to complement one another. As a side note, I think that it is likely an homage to Paul’s friend, Luke the Physician, that he uses the analogy of body parts in 1 Corinthians 12. Further, if you are a mouth, or hands, or tear ducts, or feet, don’t apologize for how God has made you. Serve Him to the best of your ability, majoring in the majors and recognizing that there are others who can come alongside you and assist you in those areas where you are weak.
The Gospel is for all people, and if you are a minister, we have a task to reach them. Yet, we are parts of a body. Use God’s design in your life for His glory.
Rejoicing God and Man
“Shall I bring my new wine that rejoices God and man to an end and go about domineering over the trees?”
(Judges 9:13)
In one of the churches in which I am privileged to preach, I have been working through the book of Judges. It is a rich book filled with the foibles of a people seeking to rule over themselves, acting as if they had no King. Indeed, they may not have had an earthly king like their neighbors, but they had a divine King to whom they constantly refused to submit, preferring to bow before the works of their own hand. Sadly, it would seem that the church has not much changed across the ages, with every man doing what is right in his own eyes.
In this context, there is a point, after the death of Gideon, that his son Abimelek (the son of a concubine) treasonously hires useless men to detain and execute his brothers (all but Jotham). Jotham returns for one final passage where he utters an imprecation against Abimelek in the form of a parable. In this parable, the woodlands seek to find a tree to rule over them as king, moving from arguably legitimate candidates to eventually the illegitimate bramble bush (illustrating their choice of Abimelek).
The whole of the sermon can be heard here:
What is striking, as a principle, is that to rule as king, each of these trees fears losing its God-given fruit. With their fruit gone, how then shall these trees be judged (Matthew 7:16)? Jesus treats the fig tree that bore no fruit quite harshly (Matthew 21:18-22), and out of season at that! With that idea in mind, I spent some time this morning reflecting on the kind of fruit that all of us are to bear (Galatians 5:22-24), namely fruit that is useful to both God and man (the uniting theme of each of these fruits).
So, as you look over your life, ask yourself, what aspects of the fruit you bear bring joy to both God and man? Obviously, what is most important is that we are pleasing to God, and by doing so, often we will earn enemies of men on earth. Yet, if you are pleasing to God, though the wicked may not appreciate it at the time, you will find yourself being useful to men — salt and light as Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount.
What strikes me is how often we, as Christians, get the language backward. We often worry first about whether men rejoice in us and then let things fall where they may with God. Paul makes very clear the danger of being a man-pleaser (Galatians 1:10), reminding us that the purpose we were entrusted with the Gospel was so that we would please God regardless of whether any people will take pleasure in the message we bring (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
So, Christian, who does your fruit rejoice? Does it rejoice God? Does it rejoice man? Might it even rejoice God and man (in that order!)?
Gospel
Recently, I watched one of the many “talking heads” online discussing the notion of the Gospel and the idea that many Christians have varying understandings of what the Gospel really is. Indeed, there are many theories of the atonement, and while important, that isn’t our purpose here (I am in the process of writing a short book on the topic, so stay tuned!). Our purpose here is to ask, what is the Gospel in a broad sense and how is it presented in the Scriptures?
In the broadest sense, the term we translate as “gospel” comes from the Greek word, εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion — from which we get the word “evangel”). Literally, the term means: “good news.” The term shows up 89 times in the New Testament and once in the Greek Translation of the Old Testament. Commonly, the term is also found with qualifiers. For instance, it is referred to as “the Gospel of the Kingdom” three times in Matthew (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14) and similarly, in Mark 1:15, we are to “repent and believe in the Gospel” for the “Kingdom of God is at hand.” It is also referred to as “the Gospel of God’s Grace” (Acts 20:24), the “Gospel of the Son” (Romans 1:9), the “Gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 9:12; 2 Corinthians 9:13; 10:14; Galatians 1:7; Philippians 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:8), the “Gospel of the Glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4); “God’s Gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:2,8,9; 1 Peter 4:7); the “Gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13); the “Gospel of Peace” (Ephesians 6:15), the “Gospel of the Glory of the Blessed Lord” (1 Timothy 1:11), and an “Eternal Gospel” (Revelation 14:7). In addition, the scriptures make it abundantly clear that this Gospel is something to be preached or proclaimed (Luke 9:6; 20:1; Acts 8:25,40; 14:7,21; 16:10; Romans 1:15; 15:20; 16:25; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:16,18; 15:1; 2 Corinthians 2:12; 8:18; 10:16; 11:7; Galatians 1:8,9,11; 3:8; 4:13; 2 Timothy 2:8; 1 Peter 4:6). Curiously, the one reference found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament comes from 2 Samuel 4:10, where we find David slaying a man seeking to profit from killing Saul’s son and seeking to relay his deed as “good news” — a false gospel indeed.
If we are to draw some conclusions from these Scripture references, they should circle around two ideas: the Gospel is Christ’s and the Gospel ushers in the Kingdom of God. In other words, there is nothing about the Gospel that is our doing — it is God’s doing and God’s alone. And though we benefit from it, it revolves around Christ and His doing. Further, the point of the Gospel does not revolve around us gaining happiness either in life or death, it involves Christ making us a part of His Kingdom and, since it is Christ’s Kingdom, He is King and as part of that Kingdom, we must abide by His Law. Hence, in what we know as “The Great Commission” the emphasis is placed on teaching people to be disciples who obey all that Jesus taught.
So, yes, the Gospel is about atonement, but atonement is just the beginning of the Gospel. It is about remaking the world into a new creation where there will no longer be sin or death. That means that the conclusion of the Gospel is found in the remaking of the heavens and the earth that will come with our Lord’s return, but it also means that the Gospel begins with the very first words of Genesis and the whole history of mankind, as recorded in the Bible, is part of the Gospel. Frankly, the Gospel begins even before God made the heavens and the earth, for this was His eternal plan. And so, to put it simply, the Gospel is not so much about who is saved, but it is about who reigns in His eternal kingdom and how He preserves a people for Himself to be part of that kingdom. Indeed, in that time, every knee will bend and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Light in the Darkness, not Compromise
“Thus, your light must shine before men so they might perceive your good work and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:16)
Sadly, we sometimes miss the imperative nature of Jesus’ command here. Many translations render this as “let your light shine…,” which, while accurate, does not place the kind of force that our Lord places upon these words. Jesus is not making a suggestion here; he is issuing a command. Many people are taught that while it is good to have faith, the faith you have is a personal thing and should be kept under wraps. Folks, that sentiment is neither Jesus’ sentiment here nor is it the teaching of the Bible in any place. The faith you have must be seen as a light amongst men, and in a sinful and darkened world that surrounds us as it does, the light of Christ should be as a beacon or a lighthouse to those all around you.
The application to Christ’s church should be an obvious one. When the world seeks truth, the church should be the natural place for the world to come. When the world seeks answers, it is in the context of the truth that the Light of God’s Word can shine and answers can be revealed. When the world is so filled with preference and compromise, it ought always be in the church that compromise is revealed for what it is and unadulterated truth can be found. How sad it is that so many churches these days seek to imitate the world’s darkness rather than seeking to shine the Truth of God’s Word.
When the world is lost in darkness, how will they distinguish what is true if the church does not stand as a beacon of God’s Word? The world knows accomodates to the liking of every man; how shall it know what is true if the church does the same? The world is fickle, and its tastes change, but the Word of God is fixed like a rock and will not shift like sand. Yet, the moment the church compromises that which the Word sets forth, it ceases to keep its footing upon the rock, and the fall is most often fatal. Folks, understand, making compromises tends to be easy because compromises are meant to accommodate folks around us and take the edge off what is true that we profess. Yet, compromise is hard to back-pedal from once it is made. Beware the danger of compromising God’s Word; indeed, we are often surrounded by groups that have done just that and our culture is drowning in a quagmire of partial-truths. How will the world see our God in heaven if our works are simply our own?
A Well-Lit Church
“Nor is it that a lamp is lit and placed under a peck basket, but it is put on a candlestand and it shines for all those who are in the house.”
(Matthew 5:15)
As Jesus often does, he uses an analogy that is common to most people to make a profound point. The analogy is simple, if you light a lamp, it is counterproductive to hide the light of the lamp under a basket — in this case, a peck-sized basket (roughly about 2 gallons of dry goods). Instead, the very purpose of a light is to illuminate the house. Commonly, this is applied to the Christian life in a personal way: don’t be timid about sharing the Truth of the Gospel with those you meet. In fact, the application found here is that of a light in a house, so it is a reminder that those very personal interactions with others should be ones we use to advance the Kingdom as God so permits.
All that is said above is quite true and very applicable to the Christian life. Your neighbors should know that you are a Christian by the way you live and act. Further, you should use your homes as a tool to that end. Invite your neighbors over for a meal and encourage them to remain for your family worship or devotional time. Too often, Christians live lives that are essentially indistinguishable from those of our non-believing neighbors. Yes and amen.
Nevertheless, if our tendency is to leave this text with a personal application, we miss what can arguably be said is the more significant point. Jesus is speaking with individuals but these individuals are in a group. So, how do these same words apply to the Church as a whole? Is not the church being built up as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood where we make spiritual sacrifices to God through Christ Jesus (1 Peter 2:5)? Is not our corporate worship meant to be a sacrifice of praise to our God — the very fruit of the lips of those who acknowledge His name (Hebrews 13:15)? Is Christ not the Great High Priest by which we can enter into the house of God (Hebrews 10:21)? And if all of this is true, shall not our spiritual house (the church) be lit by the Truth of Christ?
And therein is the rub. For many churches in our age, the Truth of God’s word is considered a byword. It is apologized for, redacted, reinterpreted, or otherwise ignored. People love to cry out “Jesus saves” but neglect the language that presents Jesus as the eternal judge over mankind. People love to cry out that “God is love,” but neglect to point out that God is just and holy and that he hates the wicked. People love to call themselves “followers” of Jesus but neglect to insist that those who follow, if they are going to be called “Christians,” must also be disciples, striving to obey all that Jesus has commanded. The lamp of God’s word must be presented untarnished and unadulterated by the preferences and traditions of man, and it must be put on a lampstand so that all may see.
To the Jewish reader of Jesus’ day, this language would be particularly striking, for as one would enter the Holy Place of the Temple, there was a lampstand. That lampstand, with its seven lamps, served more than the practical purpose of providing light at night. It was also symbolic of the notion that God provides light to the world and that when you are in God’s presence, there is never darkness (think about the Apostle’s words in 1 John 1:5). There are many things that seem dark in this life, and we will only ever come to see them rightly in the light of God’s Word. Sometimes people look with disdain at the prominence of the sermon as part of the church service. People think it can be overly long or sometimes too “heady,” but in many ways, that is exactly the point. How are we going to understand the Truth of God if we are not taught and reminded of God’s ways from His Word and then exhorted to put these things into action in our lives?
When is a church not a church? It is not a church when it lacks the Biblical marks of a church: the faithful preaching of the Gospel, the right use of the sacraments, and the use of church discipline for the chastizing of sin — in other words, the church is not the church if Christ is not King of the church. It is not a church if it has no light lifted up within it to provide light. God’s house should never be a place of darkness, but should be full of light within.
Obedience and Gratitude
“And if you surely forget Yahweh your God, and if you pursue new gods and serve them and bow to them, then I witness against you this day that you will perish.”
(Deuteronomu 8:19)
It struck me last night, as I was listening to a young seminary student preach on the text of Deuteronomy 8 and the matter of the interplay between the forgetfulness and remembrance of God’s people, that our remembrance or forgetfulness of God’s Law reflects the level of gratitude we have toward God for His provision. How often do we, as God’s people, act like spoiled, petulant children even in the face of God’s rich blessings and provision? How often do we, the church, insist on our own way rather than submitting to God’s Law? How often do we do what is right in our own eyes rather than listen to what God has told us to do? How many times do we need to hear, “Has God not said…” before we, the church, repent? Indeed, as the prophet Micah declares:
“He has declared to you, oh man, what is good! And what does Yahweh require from you? It is to do justice, to love covenant faithfulness, and to go along humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8)
Humility and pride are incompatible. Obedience and submission are what God calls for, not headstrong independence. God is not interested in the designs of men; He has told us how we are to live and how we are to worship Him. Yet, how often do we do our own thing instead? How often we try to tell God what is best for us instead of submitting when He declares what is truly best. Not only do we forget the things God has done, we wilfully forget and we show our ingratitude toward God by doing so. Yet, what does Moses remind us of here? If we surely forget, we will surely perish. Equal emphasis is placed on both clauses in the Hebrew above: If we forget — forget, we will perish — perish. In contrast, God calls upon us over and over to remember. And in remembering, we show our gratitude when we obey.
The parallel is a simple one. The theme is a recurring one. Oh Christian, what then will you do with that information?
A City on a Hill
“You are the light of the cosmos. It is not possible for a city to be hidden when it is placed upon a mountain.”
(Matthew 5:14)
Light is an important figure of speech in the Bible when it comes to God. God is light and in Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). In turn, we (the True Church) are called to walk in that light as a demonstration that we have fellowship with one another and that we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (1 John 1:7; 2:9-10). Further, as believers, we have been called out of darkness that we may live in the marvelous light of Christ (1 Peter 2:9) for our Lord Himself dwells in inapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16) and our lives ought to reflect that reality. Believers, thus, are described as “children of Light” (John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5), we share in the inheritance of light (Colossians 1:12) for the Light of Christ has shown upon us (Ephesians 5:14). We are even equipped with the armor of light (Romans 13:12), which is of course, the word of Truth. And ultimately, who is the Light of the World? That answer is easy: it is Jesus (John 8:12).
So, the word-picture that the Bible presents is clear. Christians are the light of the world in as much as we faithfully reflect the light of Christ to others. Another way of putting it is that we do not generate light within ourselves, but as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so too do Christians reflect the light of Christ when we are living out our lives in a faithful manner. Further, in context, due to the fact that Jesus is speaking of a city on a hill, not a house on a hill, we must again recognize that Jesus has the gathered church in mind. We are effective at being the light of the world when we are gathered together and joined in true worship. And, sadly, when the church fails to be the True Church, that light is dimmed and hidden.
There was another level of significance to Jesus’ original audience. Jerusalem was the model of the city on a hill in the Jewish mindset. It was high and elevated and could be seen from a distance. Further, the highest point of the city was the Temple. Does that mean that the place of worship should be the most prominent location in a Christian community? Yes, indeed it does. Furthermore, gathered worship should be the most central part of a Christian’s life. Or, perhaps we can put it this way, worship should be such a prominent part of our lives as Christians that, were our unbelieving neighbors to describe us, they could not describe us apart from our gathering with other believers in worship. Our worship is central to our lives and it is central to our public witness. We must certainly not be saying, “look at us,” we should be saying, “look at Jesus!” Any light that we have is but a reflection of His light.
What is striking about this analogy is that even in the Roman world, there were numerous religions and ideologies that set forth truth claims. In our own age, that number has only multiplied. So, how does one distinguish true light from false light? How does one discern which light is reflected from Christ compared to the supposed light that comes from the minds of sinful man? The answer is simple: God has given us His Word. The Scriptures are the rubric and tool by which we distinguish light and life from darkness and death. We must go to the Word put into print for us and submit to the teaching thereof. It is the only standard by which truth can be measured. When individuals and churches seek to put forth their own traditions as light, the Scriptures should disabuse us of such notions. The scriptures should be the basis for, the light throughout, and the measure by which all things are measured and judged. And, when the church interjects its own ideas and practices in the place of clear Scriptural teachings, it ceases to be a city on a hill that stands out, but becomes one of many human institutions of limited and passing value. Its light may seem bright to eyes accustomed to darkness, but its lampstand has been removed. By God’s grace, He typically does not remove such lights overnight, but as a lighthouse attendant is charged with preserving the clarity of a lighthouse’s upper windows so the light will not be obstructed, we too, in the church, must constantly be ensuring that the light that shines from within is not distorted by the smudges caused by the preferences and traditions of man (no matter how beloved their practices may be).
Salty
“You are the salt of the earth. Yet, if the salt has become tasteless, in what way shall it be made salty? It is no good except to be thrown out and trampled by man.”
(Matthew 5:13)
Idiomatically, the phrase “salt of the earth” has come to mean someone who is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, and not a fraud. When this phrase is used, we typically think of those who are not pompous or full of themselves and who do not approach you with ulterior motives. They say what they mean, and they mean what they say, and you can rely on them to fulfill the promises that they make. Typically, folks who fall into this category are not flashy and self-aggrandizing. They exhibit a genuine care and interest in their neighbors’ welfare and consider the needs of others ahead of their own. Nevertheless, given that our focus has not been on individuals but on the church as a whole, the question that we ought to ask is whether such adjectives describe the church as a whole. Sadly, it often does not.
Today, many churches have embraced more of a business model in terms of how they behave toward the community. They advertise, they put on events to promote themselves. They seek to attract followers of themselves rather than followers of Jesus Christ. Early on in my ministry, I served two small congregations, neither of which could support a pastoral call on their own. While there, I visited one of the area churches that had well over a thousand members and asked the pastor to consider sending ten families to these two churches. They were of the same denomination and were less than ten miles down the road from one another. I suggested that these families could see themselves in a missional sense with the aim of helping to breathe life into these struggling churches. The answer I received was a resounding, “No!” In the end, the message was clear, for the larger church, its membership was essentially its customer base and people were quick to build their own “church brand” rather than to build the church. When a church becomes more interested in its kingdom than in The Kingdom, the church ceases to be salt of the earth.
Much has been written about the nature of salt and its importance in the ancient world. It was used as a method of seasoning and preserving, much as we still use it today, but it was also part of the sacrificial system (Leviticus 2:13) and in other parts of the ancient world, it was even used as a form of currency. Like gold and silver, salt never truly degrades and it is a natural resource that is essential to the functioning of a community. How true that should be for the life of the church. Communities wherein a vibrant and Biblical church resides should be places of health and not of moral decay. Its sacrifices of praise (Hebrews 13:15) ought to be joined by the covenant of salt that God has made with us as His people (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5). Covenant of salt? It is symbolic of the irrevocable nature of God’s promise to His elect. It’s a reminder that no matter how the True Church is surrounded by and mixed into the sin-contaminated world, it is never “watered down” or compromised. Salt remains salt.
But wait a minute. What about when the “salt loses its saltiness” (Mark 9:50)? As Matthew records, when salt is no longer “salty,” it is good for nothing but to be trodden underfoot. Yet, didn’t I say that “salt remains salt”? How do these two ideas harmonize? To answer this question, we must distinguish between the nature of salt itself as a mineral and salt’s effect on the world around it; the difference between the individual life of a Christian and the effect of the Christian church on the world around it. For, while NaCl remains salt and can always be reconstituted, no matter how greatly it is watered down, just as one of God’s elect remains elect no matter how inundated by the world he may be, “saltiness” is the measure by which salt can be seen affecting the environment it is in, just as the true church should be clearly separate and distinguishable from the community around it.
Salt can be diluted. It remains salt, but the more diluted it becomes, the less distinguishable it is. Similarly, churches often become diluted with the world and when that happens, the church ceases to be truly distinguishable from the world. Remember what Jesus said, the world will hate the church because the world hated Christ and the church belongs to Christ. When the church looks more and more like the culture around it, we must ask whether the church has truly lost its saltiness. Just as salt can always be reconstituted as the water is evaporated away, so too can the church be renewed as it puts to death those things of the world it has embraced. What is sad is when (as is often the case) churches cease to be true and faithful representatives of the salt they are meant to be.
Or, perhaps we might speak more plainly. When the church ceases to submit to Christ as her King and Bridegroom, then it ceases to be a true church. It ceases to be salty and it’s only value is to be trampled underfoot on the path. Many things present themselves as the church in today’s world, but many such things are little more than country clubs built on the remembrance of a past rooted in the Word of God. Their sacraments become traditions, their preaching becomes self-help, and their discipline disappears entirely. Sometimes there is no true salt left within it; sometimes the true salt is so watered down that it cannot be seen and its effects cannot be felt. God calls such believers to “go out from their midst and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). That calls for the stepping out of the comfortable and worldly, a fearful thing for many.
Rejoice and Exult in God
“Rejoice and exult, for your recompense will be abundant in heaven; for in this way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
(Matthew 5:12)
Let us begin where Jesus begins in this verse: χαίρετε και ἀγαλλιᾶσθε (chairete kai agalliasthe — “rejoice and exult”!). Understand here that Jesus is using this language in the context of Christian persecution. Our tendency is to want to rejoice and be glad when things are going well, when life is easy and things are “going our way.” Yet, Jesus is speaking about rejoicing under persecution. Why is that? The answer is simple: the persecution of the world is one of the best indicators that we are living out our faith in a manner that is glorifying to God. The world hated Christ so much that it put Him to death; why do you think that it would not also seek to put the followers of Christ to death?
True, in many places of the world, the evil ones threaten believers with knives and guns. And, while that sometimes happens here, in the Western world, more commonly, the devil is more subtle. Here, he attacks with lies and gossip, distraction and pretense. Here, we are surrounded by a frenzy of worldly passion that dumbfounds the spiritually-minded person, leaving many befuddled and stupefied, confounded by folly at every turn when Truth is desired. Jesus said, “This is the way they treated the prophets before you, do understand that there is nothing new under the sun.” Beloved, the Christian should expect to be a voice crying out in the wilderness. Why does it surprise you when we are?
The devastating thing is that not only do individual Christians face this kind of attack; if the church is living its life out as the True Church, it will be persecuted as well. And so, when it happens, rejoice! When persecution raises its ugly face, exult in God! Why? Well, it is the right thing to do. It also testifies that you are likely getting some things right. But Jesus also reminds us that your recompense will be abundant in heaven. What is that recompense? It is not houses and gold as some “prosperity preachers” would suggest. It is, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” What greater recompense could anyone ask for? Further, as Christians, we will witness the enemies of God facing their eternal condemnation. The Bible speaks of that as a time of rejoicing in God (see Revelation 19:1-3), though I suggest that rejoicing will be shaped by our overwhelming recognition of the unmerited grace we have received in Christ.
Attitudes of War
“Blessed are you when they heap insults on you and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me.”
(Matthew 5:11)
“You adulterers, do you not know that brotherly love with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever desires to have brotherly love with the world conducts himself as an enemy of God.”
(James 4:4)
“If you were of the world, the world would have brotherly love toward you as its own; but because you are not of the world, in contrast, I elected you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”
(John 15:19)
In today’s world, there are wars and rumors of war; it seems to have become the normal state of being of the age in which we live. Indeed, this is partly because we are fallen men living in a fallen world. Sin leads to conflict, and conflict leads to war. As if the world is not gruesome enough, our sin has led us to have a morbid curiosity about all things horrific and macabre, and thus, bad news sells news. It is a sobering reality, but it is reflective of what Jesus said about what must take place before His return (Matthew 24:6).
Our problem is that we most commonly focus on human events and national conflicts rather than the great, spiritual war in which we are engaged. In the war against the devil and against the children of the devil (1 John 3:4-10), even the greatest military conflicts of man stand as but a campaign. Unlike the soldiers in a campaign, who tend to wear uniforms of different colors or designs, the only way to tell the difference between these two great armies are by the markings of Christ exhibited in each, markings that we know better as the Fruit of the Spirit (Matthew 7:15-20; Galatians 5:16-26).
What strikes me as fascinating is as to just how often those who are children of God — translate that as born-again Christians — are surprised when they encounter the children of the devil in their midst. Unlike a conventional war, where different armies have their separate encampments and generals are constantly maneuvering for favorable footing, the enemy is fighting more of a guerrilla war against Christ’s own. The enemies show up in Christian churches as friendly people who fill a pew (for all of the wrong reasons!). They show up as leaders, as missionaries, and even as pastors. The wolves are amongst the sheep (Matthew 7:15; 10:16; Acts 20:29), and one of the purposes of church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20) is to expose such wolves for what they are and to protect the sheep. Then again, many churches fail to practice church discipline altogether, for fear of seeming “mean, intolerant, or judgmental.” Yet, if a church does not practice discipline, it is allowing the sheep to fall into the mouths of wolves (John 10:12) and is not, in the language of the Belgic Confession, article 29, a “True Church.” In other words, there are entire encampments out there that fly the Christian banner, but are tools of the enemy, the Devil.
In the end, though, as a result of the conflict in which we fight against the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers over this present darkness (Ephesians 6:12), one mark of the true church is that it will be persecuted, insulted, and slandered for the name of Christ. We are not “of” the world; we do not belong to it. We do not fly the banners of this world, but we raise up the Word of God as the standard of Christ. On that, we either stand or fall, and for that, we will be persecuted. So, church, when you do not fit in with the social organizations of your community, be of good cheer, for you are blessed of God. The world hated Christ enough to put Him to death; count it as a badge of honor when the world hates you. But, if the world does not hate you, if the world does not slander you for Christ’s name, if the world does not revile you, then that ought to say volumes; you may be dwelling and even worshiping in the enemy’s encampment.
Driven out for the sake of God’s Law
“Blessed are those who are driven out for the sake of righteousness, for to them is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
(Matthew 5:10)
Once again we find the language of the kingdom. And, as noted above, we should remember always that this speaks not only of the eternal Kingdom that is yet to come, but also of the church in this world. Arguably even, it is even more appropriate to understand this blessing as applying to the imperfect church in this fallen world. Yes, there are individual manifestations of this calling, but we should not overlook the corporate character of these as well.
Often, the Greek word διώκω (dioko) is translated as “persecuted,” and when one looks at the cognates of διώκω, that is an easy translation choice to make. Commonly, the word group also has legal connotations, which means that when we see this paired up with δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosune — justice) we can see how this phrase of Jesus is to be understood in a legal sense. Those who are persecuted, those who are driven out of their community (or driven out of the “good graces” of their community) because of what is Biblically true, these are the heirs or beneficiaries of the Kingdom.
Sometimes people miss the significance of the judicial connotations of this language here. Too often, people describe themselves as “persecuted” because others don’t share their preferences. Yet, given Jesus’ use of language, we must not see this in the context of preference or feeling, but should understand this in a legal sense. For the believer, there will be times when he or she is persecuted because he or she is committed to God’s Law. Nevertheless, if that statement is true for an individual Christian, that should be all the more true of the covenant body of believers. When the church sands for the Law of God, a secular society and a pagan society will persecute her members. For instance, when the church stands against abortion as a crime, when the church stands against sexually immoral practices, when the church insists that the Sabbath day should be set apart for God and businesses should be closed, the community will balk and complain. At times, the community will mock and at times, the community will organize to push a church out of its midst. This can be said even within the church. Those who insist on practicing the regulative principle of worship (see the Westminster Confession 21.5) are often mocked by other supposedly Christian bodies due to their unwillingness to include that which flows out of the creative whims of men in the church service.
Moreover, if the inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven are those who are persecuted for ordering their lives according to God’s Law, and recognizing that the Kingdom of Heaven is rightly understood as the Church of Jesus Christ, then it follows that those who are not persecuted for their obedience to God’s Law are probably not the church. Jesus, indeed sets a bar in these beatitudes that none of our churches will ever fully meet, but do we even try to pursue that bar? We ought.
Peacemaking
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
(Matthew 5:9)
While there are occasional debates amongst Christian sects as to what “sons of God” refers, it is most naturally understood as a reference to Christians in contrast to those who are “sons of the devil” or “sons of man.” Thus, Paul will write that those who are sons of God are such through faith (Galatians 3:26) and that the mark of the sons of God is that they are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). While sometimes people cite passages like Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7 as examples of the term referring to angelic beings, that is a conclusion that must be inferred while passages like Deuteronomy 32:8 most clearly apply the term to believers. This is also a very natural way to read Genesis 6:2,4 as the text is setting out the decline of mankind with believers (sons of God) intermarrying with unbelievers (daughters of man). There is no need to import fantastical readings of hybrid human-angelic creatures as some do.
Thus, preserving the natural reading of the text being a reference to Christians as sons and daughters of God, the question that we are left with is the attribute by which such people will be known. Jesus says that they will be “peacemakers.” The Greek word that Jesus uses here is εἰρηνοποιός (eirenopoios). It refers to those who work to reconcile parties that are in opposition to one another. In English, we use the word, “irenic” or peaceful, to describe one of the attributes of a Christian, but this term takes the meaning a step further. Someone who is irenic may simply be seen as having a peaceful disposition, something akin to being gentle. Yet, a peace-maker is one who actively works to bring about peace in contexts where there is conflict. Given (at least in my experience) that people often do not wish to reconcile with one another, this is often a markedly difficult task.
Obviously, the greatest example of peace-making that we have in history is that of Jesus, who reconciled us to His Father through the shedding of His blood (Colossians 1:20). While it was certainly God’s desire to reconcile a people to Himself (Titus 2:14), but we were in full-blown rebellion against our God because of our sin (Romans 5:8) and, following the example that God sets for us in Christ, we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16). This indeed is a teaching with which each and every Christian must wrestle. We grow comfortable in our salvation and often become inwardly focused. We focus on our own needs and often ignore the needs of others. To that, each and every one of us must ask the question, given that God has given us so much (while we were yet rebelling against Him), how can we close our hearts toward another?
Yet, if we stop interpreting this verse with the individual, we miss the corporate thrust of Jesus’ teaching. Notice that “sons” is plural (as is peacemakers). In other words, we may be engaged in peacemaking in our own Christian walk, but it is also the role of the corporate church to do the same. It is a powerful testimony when a single Christian is the source of reconciliation between people, but imagine the effect of reconciliation if it is also the work of the church! Sadly, churches tend to focus on their membership alone and forget the community that exists all around them. Can you imagine the effectiveness of the church if it (as a corporate body) ceased looking inward and began looking outward? Can you imagine what it would look like if the church’s focus were to genuninely engaged in the work of peacemaking in its community? Imagine if they actively engaged in evangelism as God’s tool to reconcile the Elect to Himself and in discipleship that equipped people to become peacemakers in life.
Today, churches often function much like corporations, competing with one another for a larger share of the community. Infighting abounds within individual congregations because each person has their “pet” project or ministry, and it abounds between churches of varied denominations and histories. What about any of that would attract a person from outside of the church community? Why would someone want to willfully “belong” to a body that bickers and nitpicks at everything? Companies create networks from which they can draw clients. Churches do outreach and point people to someone greater: Christ.
Note too that peacemaking is not “the art of the deal” nor is it “the art of compromise.” In the worldly environment, typically one person wins and one person loses. In compromises, both parties lose. Such is not peacemaking. Compromise is simply the notion that two groups have learned to live together without killing each other. Peace is resolving the conflict and living together in harmony. Peace requires a willingness of both parties to be in fellowship with one another. It’s how the body works. The body must think and behave like a body, recognizing the unity and necessity of each part (even the seemingly inconsequential parts). Again, peace is not a compromise. Peacemaking does not require us to ignore what we know to be true. Peacemaking requires us to submit our pride and arrogance to the Word of God and live in obedience to that Word.
It might be argued that such peacemaking is unattainable on earth. And, indeed, it will never be perfect until our Lord returns and remakes the heavens and the earth, casting all who are not sons of God into eternal Hell. Nevertheless, shall we not strive toward the ideal that our Lord sets before us, however imperfectly we do so? Indeed, there have been times when the church has sought to do just this and when the church has done so, it has transformed the culture around it. In the Roman Empire, church pastors and Elders often served as magistrates as the Roman legal system had an immeasurable backlog of cases (not to mention, it was also horribly corrupt!). At times in history, the church has become the center of education, especially for the poor. Sunday School programs were originally formed not just to catechize children, but also to provide them with an education as they were often working during the week. Entire written languages and legal codes were drafted by Christian missionaries who were seeking to share the Gospel and to transform pagan societies into moral governments. In my own work with the homeless, I have seen entire churches “adopt” a man who wanted to get off the streets, help him to find work and a place to live, as well as to incorporate him into the life of the congregation. Lives are often transformed one at a time, but when Congregations focus on transforming the culture as a body, things change. They become peacemakers, and in that peacemaking work, it becomes clear that they are indeed children of God.
The Church’s Purity
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will witness God.”
(Matthew 5:8)
What does it mean that the pure in heart will “see” or “witness” God? Does it mean that they will visibly witness God in this life as Moses did from behind (Exodus 34:5-7) or as Manoah did when the birth of Samson was announced (Judges 13:22)? Does it mean that we will “dream dreams and see visions”? A better understanding of what Jesus is speaking, that applies not only to believers across the ages but also to the church across the age, is that they will see the hand of God at work. While God has appeared before people at specific times and places in human history, such theophanies should not be understood as a normative experience. What is normative, though, is the believer’s capacity to see the providential work of God unfolding in his life as well as in his church.
If we wish to see (with understanding) God’s hand at work, Jesus tells us that we must be pure in heart. Yet, what is this purity? Indeed, we are all sinners, every last one of us, so how can we ever be truly clean in this context? For the Christian, our cleanliness is not our own, but is an alien cleanliness as we stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21) and eternally, our robes will be washed in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14). Yet, what of the corporate church? How does it establish and maintain its purity?
The word that is translated here as “pure” is the Greek word καθαρός (katharos). As a term it can refer to that which is pure or, more narrowly, that which is free from contaminants. One of the easiest illustrations of purity and contamination is something that we all use on a daily basis: water. Sometimes, when water is contaminated, the contamination is easily detected. There might be dirt, bits of plant material, etc… that are visible within the water itself. At other times, contamination is a little more difficult to detect. The water may look clear but smell a little funny or it may have unhealthy bacteria that is invisible to the eye but also harmful to the body. In such cases, things like charcoal filtration or distillation may be necessary to make the water healthy.
When applying this kind of analogy to the church, it should be obvious how easily contamination can enter into the life and worship of the body. Sometimes it is obvious and visible, for instance, when churches establish imagery of God, breaking the second commandment or when they harbor adulterous sins amongst their membership. Some are more subtle, like preaching “self-help” sermons that teach you how to “live your best life now” or practice worship with man-made songs instead of with the psalms that the Lord has given to His people for the purpose of worship. The Westminster Confession, chapter 21 speaks of those elements that are Biblically commanded of God’s people: prayer, reading of the Scriptures with godly fear, sound preaching of those Scriptures as well as hearing with application to the soul, singing psalms with grace in your heart, offering and receiving sacraments as instituted by Christ, and other oaths, vows, fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions. The Belgic Confession, Article 29 narrows this down to three marks: the pure doctrine of the Gospel is preached, the sacraments as instituted by Christ are maintained, and that church discipline is exercised to constrain sin.
When we start adding in “other things” based on our preferences, we see the purity of the church contaminated. When the church pursues preference, feelings, or personal agendas, it ceases to be the True Church and its worship is something akin to that of Nadab and Abihu. They may seem to have fire, but it is an alien fire that God will not bless. And, in turn, such churches will no longer witness God and His power, but they will become witnesses of themselves and promoters of their own power and influence over men. Purity, dear Christian, in worship and practice, is important to God according to His Word.
The Threat of Theological Impotence
“Blessed are the compassionate, for they will be shown compassion.”
(Matthew 5:7)
“Blessed are the merciful,” most of us are probably used to hearing when this verse comes before us. The Greek words that Jesus uses here are ἐλεήμων (ele-amon) and its verbal cognate, ἐλεέω (ele-eo). They convey the notion of showing mercy, compassion, and sympathetic care. Mercy is not accomplished simply by giving money to a person, as someone might do with a homeless person standing on a street corner begging. Mercy also includes the kind of love and care that shows a person that they have dignity, no matter what it is that they have done (or failed to do). Mercy conveys to a person that we care about them as well as their condition. In addition, it conveys that we are willing to share in their sorrow or suffering if that is needed as part of caring for the individual. Hence, my choice in translation is “compassion,” which comes from the old Latin term, compassio: “to suffer with.”
Yet, not only is the individual to be compassionate with others, so to must the church show compassion. Benevolence budgets are of great importance, but they are far more effectively used when members of the church commit their time caring for those in the community who are in need of compassion. In this, funding is joined with time and mercy to engage the people around us with the kind of care they need, which, in turn, earns us the right to share the Gospel — the reason for the care we are showing. For indeed, as Christians, we do not show compassion because we are great and noble people. We show compassion because Christ has first shown compassion to our filthy, sinful souls.
Please note that there is an important principle here at work for the life of the church. Many churches approach benevolence like a government program: throw money at people and leave them to fend for themselves. The money functions like a bandaid but no healing takes place and there is no opportunity to share the Gospel in a meaningful way. Theology and practice must go hand in hand. If you are “getting your theology right,” then you will be living that theology out in the world in meaningful ways — in compassionate ways. Many churches get their doctrine right on paper but don’t live out that doctrine in compassion. That means that they get their doctrine wrong. Other churches live lives of compassion, but their doctrine is a mess. That is also not compassionate because there is no truth being offered to guide that person in life. It must be an and-both: faith and practice. The church of Jesus Christ must excel at living out what it is that they profess to believe lest they become theologically impotent hypocrites.
Desiring Justice
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will have their fill.”
(Matthew 5:6)
The wording here is perhaps a little different from what you are used to hearing. Most commonly, our translations speak of hungering and thirsting for righteousness and in that having our hunger and thirst satisfied. Nevertheless, the Greek word that Jesus uses here is δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosune) and is most naturally understood with a just or equitable ruling in the context of a legal hearing. To be fair, though, is that not what righteousness is all about? I fear that we have entered into a world of such subjectivity that we often think of that which is “righteous” as that which best accords with our ends. Yet, an individual standard never was nor ever can be a standard by which righteousness is measured. It must be measured by the standard of something that is absolute…namely, it must be measured by God’s Law. Thus, we are brought back into a legal context where “justice” is a better translation than “righteousness.”
A second reason for translating this as “justice” over “righteousness” is when it comes to common usage in the English language. Commonly, righteousness is understood in the context of personal behavior. Justice, though, is commonly understood in a more social context. Righteousness is something that shapes the individual, and justice is something that shapes the community. Conceptially they go hand in hand, but in terms of practical application, the words point our minds toward different connotations. Jesus’ choice of terms at the end of this verse, χορτάζω (chortadzo) can mean to have one’s individual hunger or thirst slaked, but in Christian teaching, it also refers to satisfying the demands of the Law, something that is accomplished by Christ on behalf of true believers.
And so, in the context of the church, it paints a picture of a body of believers that yearns for God’s justice to be done. Notice just how many psalms contain an imprecation that cries out for God’s justice to be worked in the lives of His enemies! For the believer, we know that Jesus satisfied the demands of the Law on our behalf; nevertheless, we still practice discipline in the life of the church to chastise sin and to conform our lives to that of Christ. When it comes to the unbelievers, the church prays either for their conversion or destruction to the glory of Christ Jesus. In both cases, the church will be satisfied and be made full.
Inheriting the Earth
“Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.”
(Matthew 5:5)
Many of our Bibles will translate this passage as, “Blessed are the meek.” So what is meekness, and what does that have to do with the context of the church itself? The Greek word that is used here is πραῦς (praus), and in English, it means to be gentle, humble, considerate, or meek. In other words, it means that one is not overly impressed with oneself (think of how this word is used in 1 Peter 3:4), hence the use of the word humility here in our translation. This word does not equate with being weak, but instead, speaks of great strength that is under control, as Jesus uses this word to speak of himself in Matthew 11:29.
When we apply this to the individual Christian, its application is obvious. The Christian is not proud or boastful. In fact, we boast in Christ and in His cross, not in ourselves. Thus, we arrive at the obvious conclusion that a Christian should never be self-seeking or interested in his own gain, but instead, he should be focused on Christ and Christ’s glory. And, herein lies the rub. Too many churches are focused on their own growth and success. Programs are planned, productions are put forward, all with one goal in sight: build themselves up.
When a church focuses on itself, it loses the ability to be humble. In fact, often, churches that are primarily focused on attendance compromise the Gospel in a great many ways just to keep people happy. Or worse, they bend over backwards to keep their major donors happy. Yet, folks, that is not how Christ’s church is to behave. Notice too the little word that is part of the blessing: “inherit.” Inheritances are given; they are not earned. If a church wishes to inherit the earth, it must do so not by trying to aggressively market itself in such a way that they grow large. Such would be a corporate business model. No, the church must be humble, meek, and lowly while also being utterly committed to the commands of Christ.
So, what is one of the simplest ways to judge a church’s humility? Look at their worship. Is worship built around what God commands in His Word or is worship built around the preferences of the people? If worship is built around preference, where is the humility? No, the scriptures speak of the things that God desires from His people: prayer, reading and preaching of the Word (with understanding in the body), singing psalms, and the administration of the sacraments as Christ demonstrated them to us (Baptism & the Lord’s Supper). When other things begin to be imported into worship or when some or most of these elements are removed from worship, the church loses its humility. When a church is more interested in its programs than in God’s program, they cease to be meek. And, with the sacrifice of humility, they will never inherit the earth. Worse yet, in some cases, they cease to be a church altogether and exist more as a social club under the guise of Christ’s church.
Mourning and Encouragement
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be encouraged.”
Ordinarily, when we see these words, we reflect on them in the context of the larger pericope. In other words, those who recognize their own spiritual poverty (due to sin) will naturally grieve their sin and thus be comforted by our Almighty Father. And, indeed, there is great truth for the individual in this reading. Yet, remembering that Jesus is speaking to a large group of His disciples at this point — essentially the church — we also must ask how these words apply to the corporate body.
To understand that, we must look at the words translated here as “mourn” and “encouraged,” respectively. The word we render as “mourn” is the Greek word πενθέω (pentheo). It can refer to someone being sad, grieving, or mourning (typically over a death that has taken place). Arguably, as a church body, there are two ways of thinking about this mourning. We certainly mourn the death of those who have died from amongst our numbers. This mourning is not for the one who has died, for their spirit has passed into the presence of Christ. This mourning is for our loss in their absence. The second way of looking at this language in the corporate sense is to reflect on our own nature and the sin we commit when we are tempted. Sin not only grieves the believer who engages in it, but sin grieves the body as a whole, for when one part suffers, the whole suffers.
The word found in the latter part of this verse puts the earlier part of the verse in context. Here we find the word παρακαλέω (parakaleo). The most basic definition of the term is to call or summon someone into your presence. It can mean “to invite” or “to summon.” It can also mean “to exhort, to encourage, or to request.” This may seem like a wide range of meanings for a single word until you realize that for someone to be encouraged or exhorted, they first must be present. So, in a sense, the picture we are being given here is that of the King summoning His people to Himself (John 6:44) and then speaking to them both to exhort and encourage. Furthermore, the people of God are comforted not only in the encouragement of Christ, but also in the exhortation, for indeed, God disciplines those that He loves (Hebrews 12:6).
Historically, one of the marks of the True Church is that they practice discipline for the chastising of sin. True, as Paul writes in Hebrews 12, none of us likes discipline at the time it is administered, but the fruit of discipline is holiness. If the church is indeed to embrace holiness, it must also embrace discipline. When churches reject discipline according to the Word of God, they reject the means by which they will grow and mature in godliness. Further, they disobey their King.
The Church that is Poor in Spirit
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
When we arrive at passages like this, we must begin by asking the question: “What is blessedness?” Sadly, over the years, there have been some translations that have rendered this phrase, “Happy are…” Is being happy the same thing as being blessed? No, it is most certainly not! Happiness tends to be based on external things that bring you joy or comfort: friends, a good meal, entertainment, etc… In contrast, blessedness focuses on one’s inward state. That is why one can be blessed even during the most difficult of times. Indeed, just a few verses down, Jesus speaks about those who are persecuted for His name’s sake as being blessed. Happy…probably not so much, but definitely blessed.
So, what then does it mean for a church body to be blessed? In a sense, that is the purpose of these eight blessings (beatitudes). Ultimately, it means that the kingdom of heaven is theirs. But, what does it mean that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to a church that is poor in spirit? To answer that question, we must first ask, to what does the Kingdom of Heaven refer?
A Kingdom, by its nature, is a nation or realm that is ruled by a king. In the context of the church, we are talking about King Jesus. The idea may seem obvious enough, but its ramifications are wide and sweeping. For instance, kingdoms are not ruled in a democratic manner; the king has absolute sovereign rule. One might share with the king one’s difficulties with an aspect of his rule, but like it or not, but the subjects of the king do not get to make the rules. That belongs to the King alone. Similarly, in the church, the subjects of the King (believers) do not get to make or remake the rules. Our role is to submit to His Lordship and to yield ourselves to His authority. Every man does not get to do what is right in his own eyes (yet, how many churches do just that!).
But wait, I sound as if I am speaking of the church today, not the church in heaven. True. You see, while we tend to think of the Kingdom of Heaven only in future terms, that is not how the Bible treats it. For instance, both John and Jesus preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17; 10:7). Yet, Jesus also spoke as if the Kingdom of Heaven had always been present in the life of God’s people (Matthew 11:12). Finally, though, Jesus also speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven as something that will come at the end of all earthly time (Matthew 8:11). Perhaps, though, the Parable of the Mustard Seed presents the idea of the kingdom best. It starts very small and then grows into something mighty and magnificent (Matthew 13:24). In other words, it began small, in the Garden of Eden, and then grew through history until Pentecost, where it reached its branches to the ends of the earth. Further, it will come to completion in the New Creation when Jesus’ reign will be clear and universal. Nevertheless, in the here and now, the Kingdom exists and the King is seated on the right hand of God the Father, so the church should be in submission to the King’s rule.
That idea of submission brings us back to the beginning of the beatitude: blessed are the poor in spirit. So, to what does “poor in spirit” refer? The Greek word that is translated here as “poor” is the word πτωχός (ptochos) and refers to the idea of being entirely dependent upon others for support. It is the opposite of being proud and self-sufficient. At the same time, poor does not mean “without any other means,” but it means that any means one might have of their own are utterly inadequate to the task. And indeed, when it comes to heaven, membership in the Kingdom, and a life that honors Christ, we are utterly and completely bankrupt. Indeed, we are inadequate to the task.
If I might translate that a bit into the context of the life of the corporate church. It means there is no room for pride in the Church of Jesus Christ. It means that no matter how many dollars that the church has in the bank, they can do nothing. They are like vapor, summer grass that is burned up in a moment. Pride and the church are incompatible ideas if we are talking about the True Church of Jesus Christ. Civic associations have pride. Social clubs have pride. Yet, if we are to be a part of Christ’s eternal kingdom, we owe our past, our present, and our eternal future to Him. In turn, we must be obedient to His commands in life and in worship. It’s not about what we want. It is about what Christ commands.
Corporate Teachings on a Mountain
“And seeing the crowds, He ascended the mountain, and when He sat, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and taught them, saying…”
(Matthew 5:1-2)
These words introduce what is commonly called Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” Follows in this sermon is a philosophy on Christian living, something that might be called the “Pastoral Theology” of Christ. We have a series on the Beatitudes, Jesus’ teaching on the nature of the Law and its application, on piety and prayer, and on the marks of a Christian as he or she lives out faith in this world. It is a boiled-down version of Jesus’ instructions for living a God-Centered life boldly in a fallen world.
Often, though, when we look at these teachings, we focus on them in the context of our personal living. And, while it is true that there is much personal application that can be made from within this text, we sometimes miss the corporate nature of this sermon. Indeed, to whom does Jesus preach this? He preaches to the crowds that are following Him. He preaches to His disciples, not just to the twelve. Corporately speaking, he is teaching the church, not just persons in the church.
As Americans, I fear that we often focus too much on the individual. We are “rugged individualists” at heart, and that is an asset in many parts of our culture. Yet, we sometimes forget that Christ has united us as a one body that is designed to be unified in thought, attitude, and action for the furtherance of His kingdom. Over the next several weeks, we are going to spend some time together on the Sermon on the Mount, beginning here in the Beatitudes. And while we will talk about many personal and individual applications, our focus will primarily be to apply this language to the church — the corporate gathering of Christians — to ask the question, are we really being faithful in being Christ’s church, or has the church simply become another civic organization to which we may or may not have ties.
For instance, is “church” just something you do one day of the week? Is your commitment to church something that begins and ends when you walk into the church building? For many professing Christians, the extent of church is just that — it is a program of sorts for Sunday participation. In contrast, if we take the Gospel (and this Sermon) seriously, we should see church not as something we do, but as the natural outflowing of who we are (or whose we are). As laid out here by Jesus, church is part of the fabric of your being, and it shapes all that you do, not just what you do on Sundays. Indeed, in light of these words of our Lord, I would suggest that taking the teachings of Christ seriously also ought to shape (or challenge) what we do when we gather as a body on Sunday morning and evening.
A final note. Who does Jesus gather to teach? We are told that he gathers His disciples. A disciple (μαθητής, mathates in Greek) is literally a student. Ask anyone who has ever taught, what is the mark of a good student? They learn and apply. You may learn every teaching that is given in the Bible, you might even memorize the Bible, cover to cover, but if you do not apply the things that you learn within the Bible to your life, then you are every bit as much a heathen as the person who is utterly disinterested in the Bible. Further, if you, as a corporate body — as a church — do not submit to the teaching of the Bible, but rather pick and choose what you like and you don’t like, you are not a True Church and have more in common with a social club than anything else. Corporately, we are a body with one Head who is Christ; we must live like it.
Divisions
In C.S. Lewis’ novel, The Great Divorce, he depicts a kind of metaphorical bus tour of Heaven , Hell, and a kind of in-between place, much as did Dante in his Divine Comedy. For Lewis, the aspect of Hell that he emphasizes the most is that of privation, or the separation from anything that is good. While Lewis did not reject the language of positive retribution or destruction that the Bible speaks of, it is the idea of the “outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth” that depicted the awefulness of Hell to him.
As part of this tour, he described the people building houses with walls, but the walls only kept other people out and did nothing to protect the one within from the weather. Further, he depicted hell as a place utterly devoid of community. When someone would move nearby, those already there would quickly move away to avoid interaction with others. Lewis understood, as did Aristotle, that humans are social animals and separation from others is a most difficult thing to face — something that was a suitable part of God’s eternal and righteous judgment.
Yet, what strikes me as odd is that as a society, we are doing everything in our power to create that context here in this life, in this case, through the many labels that have been assigned to people, putting them into ever-smaller groups in both church and in society. We use terms like liberal and conservative, which have meanings, but don’t always define a person’s specific view. Most of us fall across a spectrum that falls between the far left and far right. In matters of religion, there are fundamentalists and liberals, orthodox and Neo-orthodox, evangelicals, confessionalists, Reformed or Arminian, pentecostal or cessationist, post-mil, a-mil, pre-mil, pan-mil and a wide range of in-betweens. I sometimes describe myself as a Confessionally Reformed, a-mil with post-mil sympathies, supralapsarian, paedo-baptist, creedo-communion, presuppositional in the Clarkian school of thought, sola psalmis, Christian with certain theonomic sympathies. And, I imagine that some of you, dear readers, either don’t know what all of these distinctions mean and others may be outraged by some of them.
My point is this: labels can be useful when understanding a person’s thoughts and motivations, but they are destructive when they just create walls between people that prevent constructive conversation. Socially, we see the same thing happening. People have created numerous “gender expressions,” which tend to put people into boxes that separate them from genuine community with anyone who does not hold their exact set of preferences. Largely, this generation has grown up being told they can be anything they want to be. Even in the church, this has been taking place as people often misquote Philippians 4:13. Paul saying that he can “do all things through him who strengthens me” does not mean that Paul could flap his arms and fly. It does not mean that he could breathe underwater. Similarly, people with lousy eyesight are not going to become Air Force fighter pilots even if that is what they most “want to be.”
Humans thrive in community and one of the reasons that the American Experiment has been so wildly successful (at least culturally and technologically) is because people of varying backgrounds have been able to come together to share ideas, cultural traditions, and to meet shared goals while also sharing a commitment to Truth (both in natural law and in spiritual law). Yet, today, as labels arise, as “personal truths” supplant the idea of absolute truth, we create chasms between ourselves, our ideas, and our cultural distinctives that do not belong if we are going to live in a united society.
I Don’t Care
(What you want, what you really, really want…)
In the mid-nineties, the Spice Girls had a hit song called “Wannabe,” which contained the refrain, “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want…” The tune was catchy and spoke of the nature of friendship and relationships, but it also provided an apt commentary on our Western culture. Burger King’s tagline is “The way you want it.” Chik-fil-A stresses, “It’s our pleasure to serve you.” Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, used to say, “There is only one boss, the customer.” Slogans that tout the importance of customer satisfaction abound in our culture today. It’s how businesses succeed in building a loyal customer base. Further, as someone who has been in small business himself, a satisfied customer is what you ultimately want, and the businessman should strive to give his or her customer what they “really, really want.”
Yet, churches are not businesses. Nevertheless, church leaders fall into the trap of thinking of themselves as businesses. Surely, when attendance goes up, revenue tends to go up. When attendance drops, revenue drops. Yet, while the purpose of a business is to generate revenue, the purpose of the church is to build Christ’s kingdom. And these, my friends, are two very different goals. Nevertheless, churches often circulate surveys and other questionnaires asking the people in the pews what they want in a pastor, what they want from the pastor, what they want as part of the worship service, and what kind of programs the people want…what they really, really want.
The problem is that the church is a Kingdom, or at least, the local church is meant to be a microcosm of the Kingdom of Heaven. And, Kingdoms have Kings. In the case of the church, these Kings are not mere figureheads like the King of England, but it has a real King with real rules and commands, and the King expects His citizens to obey said rules. In fact, the King has established offices in His Church to ensure that His laws are taught to His citizens, that they are trained and equipped to carry them out, and to discipline said citizens when the citizens refuse to submit to His authority.
Who is this King over the church? It is Jesus Christ the Lord. Who are His ministers? They are Elders, Deacons, and Pastor-Teachers. Deacons are charged with ensuring that the poor, the widows, and orphans are cared for and treated with equity. Elders are charged as overseers over the body, and Pastor-Teachers are given the awesome responsibility to teach and equip the citizens of Christ’s Kingdom for ministry, so that the people are also able to live their lives as disciples, obeying all that the King has commanded.
And so, within the Kingdom of Christ, what is important is not what the people want, what is important is what the people need to train them to be good and productive citizens of the church. Of what value, then, are polls and questionnaires? What is important is not citizen satisfaction, but the satisfaction of the King. In fact, the citizens will discover, if they submit to the will of the King, that they will find far more satisfaction in the things that satisfy the King than in the things that they think will satisfy themselves.
And so, what you (or I) might want (or think we might want) is irrelevant in the life of the church. The only thing that is relevant is what Christ wants. And so, as a Pastor-Teacher in the church, I really don’t care what you want, what you really, really want; I care what Jesus wants, what He really, really wants.
Wake the Sleeping Giant
“And, coming from the town square, unless they have baptized [themselves], they do not eat and there are many other things that have come down to them that they hold dearly, such as baptizing cups and pitchers and copper kettles and dining couches.” (Mark 7:4)
In our home, there reside four adults. In addition to my wife and me, we have two adult children, and it should be said that all four of us have somewhat different work schedules. My wife’s alarm clock is typically the first to go off on any given day, and then the others follow, sometimes creating a cacophony of various beeps and tunes between our bedrooms. My wife is a light sleeper, and so she chooses a quiet melody as her alarm sound, one that wakes her up without disturbing my slumber. I tend to be a heavy sleeper, so I choose the most obnoxious-sounding alarm tones available to ensure that I will roll out of bed on time to go to work.
It has been said that the church, during times of relative peace, is like a sleeping giant. During persecution, that giant awakens and rises to a level where it changes the world. Yet, during seasons such as what we experience in the Western World, where persecution is fairly negligible, the Giant slumbers. It is as if it is genuine persecution, where people are losing their lives and churches are being shut down, that provides the obnoxious-sounding alarm that causes the Giant to wake.
I’d suggest that three things happen when the Church slumbers. First, every man does what is right in his own eyes, creating traditions that are both unbiblical and idolatrous. Second, we find ourselves fighting and bickering over the validity of our traditions rather than boldly proclaiming that people must repent and believe. And third, the society around us looks to other sources for finding meaning in life. Will any of you argue that society isn’t filled by all three of these sorts of things?
Some of you might be tempted to protest by saying, “Wait, but our local church meets all three of the marks of the True Church. Perhaps you do and praise God for that, but are you really fulfilling what the church is called to be doing? For those unfamiliar with the “Three Marks,” Chapter 29 of the Belgic confession lays these out as 1) the pure doctrine of the Gospel is preached therein, 2) the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ, and 3) that church discipline is exercised for the chastizing of sin (it should be noted that the Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 17 contains a much fuller description of the true church).
The problem is that many of the churches stop with a bullet-pointed list when the Belgic Confession itself goes on to summarize the nature of the true church in that same chapter, as one in which Christ is the only head of the church. A head is a ruler. A head is a lawgiver. A head is the one that you obey and follow. As Jesus stated: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). There are also no qualifiers. The sheep are not to follow Christ their head some of the time. They are not to follow Christ their head when it is appealing to their taste or pleasing to their senses. And, they are not to follow Christ their head only when the path is easy. The sheep are to follow Christ their head at all times. The sheep are to follow Christ their head even when the road is hard, uncomfortable, and distasteful.
In turn, the true church is to do likewise. They are not to do what is right in their own eyes. They are not to follow and defend the traditions of men. And, when they discover that they are following human traditions, they are to repent no matter what the ramifications of doing so may be. Many denominations claim that they have Christ as their only head, but if you challenge them in an area — their approach to worship, their approach to leadership, their practice of discipline, their practice of koinonia — where said things reflect the traditions of men, then you will find yourself labeled as a “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17).
You see, the problem is that the traditions of men lull the church to sleep. To borrow from an old pop-song, they have become “comfortably numb.” The church today seems to be more interested in its own agendas, its own entertainment, and its own preferences…not that of the Head they claim to follow. They remain stuck in the morass of uninspired, man-centered, entertainment-driven, therapy rather than true worship. It needs a wake-up call. It needs to be told that man-made traditions, even while benign, are never okay. It needs an obnoxious-sounding alarm clock to wake it up. It needs to discover worship in Spirit and Truth, genuine koinonia, and a declaration of the Gospel that is proclaimed and then lived out, despite what the consequences may be. It needs a wake-up call. And, when the sleeping Giant truly awakes from his slumber, he will transform the world with that declaration.
The Unexamined Church
In Plato’s apology, he presents Socrates as stating: “The unexamined life is not lived by man.” More commonly, it is phrased as “the unexamined life is not worth living” or “the unexamined life is not worthy of a man.” In the end, he conveys that a life lived without introspection, self-examination, and a critical examination of the heart is a life that will amount to very little once all is said and done. One of the things that separates man from the natural order is that we have the ability to think and reason, but if we are not to apply that reason to ourselves and our lives, what good will that reason be to us?
Certainly, this notion ought to resonate with the Christian as he goes through life. We are called to examine ourselves and the way we conduct our lives to determine whether or not we are walking in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). We are called to examine ourselves before we come to the Lord’s Table for Communion (1 Corinthians 11:28). The very title that is given to Elders in the church is that of “Overseer,” implying that one of the roles that these men play is that they are to examine the church as a whole to determine where it is walking in truth or where it may have lost its first love and is walking in error (1 John 1:6; Revelation 2:5).
And, it is that latter notion that we often miss as Christians. We do understand the importance of self-examination (though often we are not as honest with ourselves as we ought to be because we have grown accustomed to justifying sin), but we also feel uncomfortable when others in the church examine us. To that, we often cry out the world’s mantra, “Don’t judge me!” Yet, we need that judgment. How can church discipline be practiced (Matthew 18:15-20) if judgment is not exercised in the examination of the body? How will the Elders root out the wolves from the midst of the sheep if examination is not practiced (Matthew 7:15) and distinguish the antichrists who are seeking to lead people away from the body (1 John 2:18-19).
In turn, we should note that it is not just the Elders who should be examining the body, but the individual Christians should likewise be examining the body as a whole to discern whether they are in a true church or a false church. Is Christ the King of the church or is man its king? Is there true worship, faithful to the Scriptures, being practiced or do people practice what they most like or according to the traditions of men? Are the Scriptures taught faithfully, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, and is the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone proclaimed from the pulpit or are works somehow injected into the message of salvation? Are the sacraments practiced as Jesus presented them and is discipline used for the chastisement of sin?
It is my experience that churches are often happy to examine others but are want to examine themselves. They want to hold that their traditions are fine and that nothing needs to be changed and act like an ostrich, burying its head in the sand, ignoring any critical evaluation of their practices. Sometimes, they have practiced an unbiblical tradition so long that they are blind to it entirely. Yet, spiritual growth does not take place apart from examination. In fact, I would suggest that growth never takes place until a person, or a group of persons in a body, is willing to critically examine all of their practices in the light of the Word of God. And thus, just as the unexamined life is not worth living, the unexamined church is not worth attending.
