Reg
04-26-2005, 03:15 PM
I got this off of a mailing list I'm on. I thought it was very good. :)
Steve's Letter - March 2005
...our attraction to self-righteousness!
When my friend, Randy Pope, the senior pastor at Perimeter Church in
Atlanta, asked me to come to Perimeter to be on the teaching staff
there (one of the "preaching pastors"), I asked him how many meetings
I would have to attend. He said there would be no meetings. I asked
him how many pastoral visits I would have to make. He said that the
job description didn't include any pastoral visits. I asked him how
many people I would have to be "nice" to and he said I didn't have to
be nice.
All I had to do was come to Atlanta, preach and teach. Then I could leave.
Is that cool or what?
Of course I accepted. Do I have "stupid" written all over my forehead?
The last time I was at Perimeter (January 23) was "Sanctity of Life
Sunday." I was sort of glad because I was angry. I consider the issue
of abortion to be the most significant social issue of our time and,
not only that, I believe Christians must get involved. Being involved
means being angry enough at the "culture of death" to do something.
Besides abortion is not my sin and (with the possible exception of
booze) it is perhaps the only place where I can "preach pure."
I wrote the sermon with relish...righteous indignation dripping from
every word. How could they do that? Where was their morality? God, I
wrote in my sermon, was a good God but we were trying His patience
with our culture of death. It was high time that God's people did
something.
I was so into the writing of the sermon that I didn't notice Jesus had
left the building. When I finally did notice, I went asking for Him.
He told me that I could preach that sermon if I wanted to but, if I
did, He wouldn't come to church. He said that He had gone to a lot of
trouble to teach me truth and love, and then He reminded me how easy
it was for me to forget.
In Matthew 16, the disciples were worried about food. Jesus had just
fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, and had fed another
4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish. That's 9,000 people fed
without a McDonalds and no cook. That is a lot of unexpected guests
and they were all full, with food to spare.
Jesus heard the disciples talking about not having food and, among
other things, He said, "Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember
the five loaves for the five thousand...or the seven loaves for the
four thousand...?" (vs. 9-10).
How easy it is for us to forget.
That's why Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. He knew our proclivity
to forget. He said that we were to remember to remember. The world
says, "Have a drink and forget." Jesus says, "Take, eat, drink...and
remember."
Martin Luther once said that he had to preach the Gospel to the people
of his church every day because they forgot every day. He also could
have said that he had to preach the Gospel to them every day because
he, Martin Luther, would forget every day if he didn't.
Do you know what I believe is the clearest indication of the fall of
Adam and therefore the greatest danger to Christians? I don't believe
it is a lack of obedience or commitment nor do I believe it is a bad
theology or the violation of the commands of God. That's why Jesus
died for us and that is covered.
(I especially like this part.)
I believe that the sin of the fall is found primarily in our
attraction to self-righteousness. I believe that our need to be right,
to appear to be good and to correct the sin of the world, is the
clearest sign of our sin nature. It wasn't the prostitutes or the
winos who received Jesus' harsh words. Instead, it was the religious
people whose sole purpose was to be good and to be perceived as good.
Jesus said to them in Matthew 23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear
beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all
uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but
within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (vs. 27-28).
It's so easy to forget where He found us. "Once you were not a
people," Peter wrote, "but now you are God's people; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10). In
other words, don't forget.
I remember standing on the porch of our apartment near Boston. I could
see the ocean on my left and the bay on my right. I had everything.
Anna was pregnant with our first child; I was one of the youngest men
in radio in Boston and I had every reason to look forward to a
successful career in broadcasting. But instead of laughing, I stood on
that porch and wept. I wept because I was so empty and so without any
meaning in my life. I wept because I was scared and I wept because I
had a hole in my heart.
Sometimes I ask God to remind me of the way I felt then. When He does
that for me, I'm not so angry with the woman who had the abortion or
who is thinking about having one. Not only that. When I remember, it
takes the arrogance away. Instead of issues, I see people and
sometimes I cry for them. Sin isn't sin because it is nasty. Sin is
sin because it breaks your heart and, when it breaks your heart, it
breaks the heart of a God who loves you. The cross isn't a sign of
God's judgment. It is a sign of His broken heart.
It is also so easy to forget sometimes how He loves us. "See what kind
of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children
of God; and so we are" (1 John 3:1).
I don't believe you can lose your salvation because, if you could lose
it, I would have on several occasions. When my sin is overwhelming
(no, not past sin...but stuff right now), I get angry and put on the
armor because I don't want people to know. But when I remember that
I'm not an orphan anymore and am loved without exception or
reservation, I find that it gentles me when I preach to others.
Not only do we forget where He found us and how He loves us...we also
forget what He wants from us. "I am the chief of sinners," Paul wrote
to Timothy. And then his astounding confession in Romans 7, "I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but do the
very thing I hate...For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do
not want is what I keep on doing" (vs. 15,19).
They think we are good. (The wise ones think that we think we are
good.) In the issue of abortion (and a thousand others) they think
that we speak because we are good and want them to be good. Maybe it
was us or maybe it was them, I don't know. But, for some reason, we
are perceived by the sinful, the needy and the fearful to be good
people condemning their sin, ignoring their need and scoffing at their
fear.
And, frankly, I don't know how to disabuse them of that spurious
belief except to confess my sins to them. I know, I know. I don't like
it either. But unless we are willing to confess our sins to the woman
who gets the abortion, to the abortionist who does it and to the man
who was the cause of the abortion, they will never know the truth. And
I don't know how we can confess our sins unless we no longer have the
need to be right and the need to appear to be good. And only Jesus can
give us that kind of security.
No, I haven't changed my views on the issue of abortion and, if
anything, they are stronger. But, in case you were wondering, I didn't
preach the first sermon I was working on. I preached another one...one
where Jesus creates a safe place for women (and men and children) who
are scared, sinful, needy and broken. I told them that His tears
mingled with our tears. I told them to run to Him.
In case you, like me, sometimes forgot...
...He asked me to remind you.
In His Grip,
Steve
E-mail: steve@keylife.org
USA mailing address: P.O. Box 945000 / Maitland, FL 32794-5000
Canadian address: P.O. Box 28060 / Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8
Phone: (800) KEY LIFE
© 2002 by Key Life Network All Rights Reserved.
Steve's Letter - March 2005
...our attraction to self-righteousness!
When my friend, Randy Pope, the senior pastor at Perimeter Church in
Atlanta, asked me to come to Perimeter to be on the teaching staff
there (one of the "preaching pastors"), I asked him how many meetings
I would have to attend. He said there would be no meetings. I asked
him how many pastoral visits I would have to make. He said that the
job description didn't include any pastoral visits. I asked him how
many people I would have to be "nice" to and he said I didn't have to
be nice.
All I had to do was come to Atlanta, preach and teach. Then I could leave.
Is that cool or what?
Of course I accepted. Do I have "stupid" written all over my forehead?
The last time I was at Perimeter (January 23) was "Sanctity of Life
Sunday." I was sort of glad because I was angry. I consider the issue
of abortion to be the most significant social issue of our time and,
not only that, I believe Christians must get involved. Being involved
means being angry enough at the "culture of death" to do something.
Besides abortion is not my sin and (with the possible exception of
booze) it is perhaps the only place where I can "preach pure."
I wrote the sermon with relish...righteous indignation dripping from
every word. How could they do that? Where was their morality? God, I
wrote in my sermon, was a good God but we were trying His patience
with our culture of death. It was high time that God's people did
something.
I was so into the writing of the sermon that I didn't notice Jesus had
left the building. When I finally did notice, I went asking for Him.
He told me that I could preach that sermon if I wanted to but, if I
did, He wouldn't come to church. He said that He had gone to a lot of
trouble to teach me truth and love, and then He reminded me how easy
it was for me to forget.
In Matthew 16, the disciples were worried about food. Jesus had just
fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, and had fed another
4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish. That's 9,000 people fed
without a McDonalds and no cook. That is a lot of unexpected guests
and they were all full, with food to spare.
Jesus heard the disciples talking about not having food and, among
other things, He said, "Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember
the five loaves for the five thousand...or the seven loaves for the
four thousand...?" (vs. 9-10).
How easy it is for us to forget.
That's why Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. He knew our proclivity
to forget. He said that we were to remember to remember. The world
says, "Have a drink and forget." Jesus says, "Take, eat, drink...and
remember."
Martin Luther once said that he had to preach the Gospel to the people
of his church every day because they forgot every day. He also could
have said that he had to preach the Gospel to them every day because
he, Martin Luther, would forget every day if he didn't.
Do you know what I believe is the clearest indication of the fall of
Adam and therefore the greatest danger to Christians? I don't believe
it is a lack of obedience or commitment nor do I believe it is a bad
theology or the violation of the commands of God. That's why Jesus
died for us and that is covered.
(I especially like this part.)
I believe that the sin of the fall is found primarily in our
attraction to self-righteousness. I believe that our need to be right,
to appear to be good and to correct the sin of the world, is the
clearest sign of our sin nature. It wasn't the prostitutes or the
winos who received Jesus' harsh words. Instead, it was the religious
people whose sole purpose was to be good and to be perceived as good.
Jesus said to them in Matthew 23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear
beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all
uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but
within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (vs. 27-28).
It's so easy to forget where He found us. "Once you were not a
people," Peter wrote, "but now you are God's people; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10). In
other words, don't forget.
I remember standing on the porch of our apartment near Boston. I could
see the ocean on my left and the bay on my right. I had everything.
Anna was pregnant with our first child; I was one of the youngest men
in radio in Boston and I had every reason to look forward to a
successful career in broadcasting. But instead of laughing, I stood on
that porch and wept. I wept because I was so empty and so without any
meaning in my life. I wept because I was scared and I wept because I
had a hole in my heart.
Sometimes I ask God to remind me of the way I felt then. When He does
that for me, I'm not so angry with the woman who had the abortion or
who is thinking about having one. Not only that. When I remember, it
takes the arrogance away. Instead of issues, I see people and
sometimes I cry for them. Sin isn't sin because it is nasty. Sin is
sin because it breaks your heart and, when it breaks your heart, it
breaks the heart of a God who loves you. The cross isn't a sign of
God's judgment. It is a sign of His broken heart.
It is also so easy to forget sometimes how He loves us. "See what kind
of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children
of God; and so we are" (1 John 3:1).
I don't believe you can lose your salvation because, if you could lose
it, I would have on several occasions. When my sin is overwhelming
(no, not past sin...but stuff right now), I get angry and put on the
armor because I don't want people to know. But when I remember that
I'm not an orphan anymore and am loved without exception or
reservation, I find that it gentles me when I preach to others.
Not only do we forget where He found us and how He loves us...we also
forget what He wants from us. "I am the chief of sinners," Paul wrote
to Timothy. And then his astounding confession in Romans 7, "I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but do the
very thing I hate...For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do
not want is what I keep on doing" (vs. 15,19).
They think we are good. (The wise ones think that we think we are
good.) In the issue of abortion (and a thousand others) they think
that we speak because we are good and want them to be good. Maybe it
was us or maybe it was them, I don't know. But, for some reason, we
are perceived by the sinful, the needy and the fearful to be good
people condemning their sin, ignoring their need and scoffing at their
fear.
And, frankly, I don't know how to disabuse them of that spurious
belief except to confess my sins to them. I know, I know. I don't like
it either. But unless we are willing to confess our sins to the woman
who gets the abortion, to the abortionist who does it and to the man
who was the cause of the abortion, they will never know the truth. And
I don't know how we can confess our sins unless we no longer have the
need to be right and the need to appear to be good. And only Jesus can
give us that kind of security.
No, I haven't changed my views on the issue of abortion and, if
anything, they are stronger. But, in case you were wondering, I didn't
preach the first sermon I was working on. I preached another one...one
where Jesus creates a safe place for women (and men and children) who
are scared, sinful, needy and broken. I told them that His tears
mingled with our tears. I told them to run to Him.
In case you, like me, sometimes forgot...
...He asked me to remind you.
In His Grip,
Steve
E-mail: steve@keylife.org
USA mailing address: P.O. Box 945000 / Maitland, FL 32794-5000
Canadian address: P.O. Box 28060 / Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8
Phone: (800) KEY LIFE
© 2002 by Key Life Network All Rights Reserved.