Christ and Common Sense

Thoughts from a Central Valley Pastor

Month: December 2021

The Truth Will Set You Free

December 23, 2021 /

One of my favorite quotes from the life of Christ is when he said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) This message resonates deeply with humanity because we all have a desire to be free. No one wants to live in captivity. No one wants to live in bondage. No one wants to be imprisoned to humans who we think are worse than ourselves. 

When Jesus spoke about being set free, he was referring to a bondage that all humans experience. He was talking about the spiritual bondage to sin. In John 8:34 he wrote, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin… If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The bondage of sin is a spiritual reality that all humans are not able to live up to God’s standards by their own power. Humans were created to live in relationship with a holy God, but sin has separated people from God. Without a Savior, there is no hope of restoring this relationship with Him because of people’s bondage to sin.

The sense of being in bondage to sin is a universal reality because regardless of wealth or education or power, no human is able to break free from their human frailty and limitations. Bill Gates knows he can not buy perfection. Mother Theresa knew she could never attain it because God’s standards go beyond outward action to inward thoughts and motives. 

Today we see a novel strategy to dealing with the problem of sin. Instead of acknowledging the problem of sin, many people in positions of power are trying to change the definition of morality so that it lines up with their own definition of right and wrong. They want abortion to be thought from one perspective so that there is no moral dilemma. They want questions of social justice, human sexuality, and environmental equity to be framed in such a way that ignores God’s standards. The irony is that the desire to set people free from God’s morality is actually moving them deeper into the bondage to sin. 

The only hope humanity has of being set free from the human condition is to look for a supernatural solution that only God provides. The only perfect solution for sin comes from the Savior. God the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, who by the power of the Holy Spirit was able to live a perfect, sinless life on the earth and then die on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the dead proved what he taught was true. When he said, “the truth will set you free” he backed it up by breaking free from the power of death! Death is the ultimate sign of human sin because it proves that humans are imperfect and finite. Jesus Christ conquered death and thus made it possible for us to be truly set free. 

Take Heart in the Justice of the Lord!

December 10, 2021 /

(Published as “A Solution for Injustice in the World” in the Hanford Sentinel)

Earlier this week my wife read a Psalm that struck a chord with me. As I listened I thought, “Where has this little gem been hiding away?” As I listened I became convinced that Psalm 37 was written as medicine for souls that have become sickened by injustice in the world. The author promises an ultimate end to injustice that depends solely on God, not on man-made solutions of power or politics. 

Psalm 37 says, “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” When David wrote this, he had already experienced his fair share of injustice in life. His nemesis, King Saul, was out to get him. David literally had to go into hiding to stay alive. How did David do it? How did he survive such great persecution and turmoil? God’s word gives us a simple answer. David made his perspective line up with God’s.

Psalm 37 continues, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” A remarkable reality takes shape when we line our thoughts up with God’s thoughts. Our desires become his desires. This is how David could promise that the Lord would give his people the desires of their heart. It was not a promise for revenge or riches. It was a promise for a certain type of desires to be met, the kind that line up with what God desires. 

Isn’t it interesting that David’s command to “dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness” comes in the context of him writing about the evil and and imperfections of this world? He didn’t give that command when everything was great and things were running smoothly. He commanded the people of God to stand firm in godliness because that is what God’s perspective requires. He was looking past the turmoil of the times to the days of peace that God will ultimately establish on the earth. 

Late in Psalm 37 David wrote, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” 

We know God can set all injustice right whenever he wants. We also know his timing is not our timing so he does not have to expedite justice on the earth. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

If God were quick to bring about justice, there would be no hope for any of us. God is patient, and so he gives time for justice to ultimately be accomplished at the end of time. We know from the book of Revelation that there will be a great white throne of judgment where everything will be set straight. No crime will go unpunished. Every wrong will be made right. That will be a frightful and formidable day for those who have not had their sin paid for. But for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, it is not a day to fear because every sin they have committed has been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. 

Having God’s perspective is how the author of Psalm 37 was able to end his poem with so much confidence. He wrote, “The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.” 

Those who take refuge in God will be able to thrive through the seasons of life. As Psalm 1 says, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” The key question we must ask is this, “Do I have God’s perspective on this situation or not?” One perspective will lead to root rot that will dry out the soul and end in despair, the other will lead to a soul that is content, healthy, and fully dependent on God.

Competitive Stewardship

December 3, 2021 /

Have you ever thought about stewardship as competitive? By competitive, I mean striving to be as generous as possible with your time, talents, and money. Competitive stewardship is applying the discipline of an athlete to excel in the God-given responsibility for humanity to “work and keep” the land as Adam was commanded in Genesis 2:15. 

Competitive stewardship starts with asking probing questions. How does God desire me to live? What limits should my lifestyle have in order to prepare people for eternity? What does it mean to “use the world” but not make “full use” of it or to “own” but not “possess”, as Paul commanded believers in 1 Corinthians 7:30-31? What does it mean to not claim anything as “one’s own,” as the early church modeled for us in Acts 4:34? Further, how are we to live as pilgrims just passing through in a culture aggressively insistent on indulgence, record-high consumer debt, and competitive consumption?

After spending time contemplating these questions, I want to offer seven convictions of a competitive steward. 

1. A competitive steward understands that he is headed to a lasting city and a far nicer home than any home in any city in this world (Jn 14:1-3; 1 Jn 2:15-17; Heb 11:10, 13:14). This helps the Christian to invest in eternal rewards more than earthly rewards. 

 2. A competitive steward owns his theology, not his things. A competitive steward knows he is owned by God (1 Cor 6:19-20) and that what he “owns” is not actually his own (Acts 4:34). What he does own temporarily he will gladly give to another, if in giving he is successfully meeting a physical or spiritual need, thus bringing delight to the Lord (Acts 4:34, 20:35; 2 Cor 8:5).

 3. A competitive steward understands that stewardship is not optional, it’s essential. Following Jesus’ mission is radical and repentance from competitive consumption must take place in order to follow Him (Col 3:5, Lk 14:23). Competitive stewardship must replace competitive consumption.

 4. A competitive steward is a strategic investor. He seeks to do the greatest amount of work, for the greatest number of people, in order to bring them the greatest good both now and for eternity! This goal maintains a clear view towards heaven and reminds us that Jesus’ eternally-incentivized plan is for each of us to make His heaven our bank (Mt 6:21). C.S. Lewis said, “If you aim at heaven you will get earth thrown in, if you aim at earth you will lose both.” 

5. A competitive steward hates waste. He sees the thief of excess. The more I have, the more I have to be responsible for. The more I have, the more time out of my already-focused life I will need to take care of it. Ten shirts are better than twenty. If something does not serve me well in my roles in family and in church—to care for those entrusted to me (first locally then globally)–it is in the way. Mass requires orbit; the more I have, the more I have to maintain.

6. A competitive steward lives not for amassing more things for self, but for honoring God through caring well for people. As a competitive steward, I make it my aim to have more friends waiting to welcome me into eternal dwellings. So, I invest to get the gospel to the nations. As a competitive steward, I want more poor people to have clean drinking water in order to simply live, so I help the poor and needy. I want more people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want more healthy churches planted and more Great Commission, gospel-forwarding works of missions funded. So, I serve my local church, equipping others for works of ministry and toward growth in maturity.

 7. A competitive steward sees the thief of death coming. As sure as night follows day, death will eventually separate me from my earthly things forever (1 Tim 6:6-7). What earthly things do I want to leave behind? Only those things that have served me well in my service to the King and will serve my heirs well in the same mission. This rules out a whole lot of things people belonging to this world clamor for.

In summation, how does God desire us to live? What limit should my lifestyle have in order to prepare people for eternity? Should I not, as one already delivered out of this passing world by King Jesus (Gal 1:4), be ruled by a godlier ambition in quite the opposite direction as this world is trending?

How about you? Are you being wise with your resources? Do you aim at eternity? Is your stuff serving you in your service to God or are you serving your stuff? Are you preparing others for eternity and helping them get there? Are your material assets serving you in your mission for God or are some of them in the way?

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