The Intent to Deceive

"But I didn't lie...I just didn't change what they were thinking that I meant by what I said..."

Have you ever met someone that tactfully words something they either say or write sot hat it can be taken multiple ways? Where they do not technically say that things are a certain way, but their wording allows for people to believe that they are a specific way.  For example, think of the following conversation:

Interviewer: So, this engineering job requires a lot of experience.  Do you have experience in this area?

Interviewed: Oh, I have TONS of experience!

Now, they mean that they have tons of experience in other areas, but they didn't actually SAY that is what they meant, and so the interviewer is left with the belief that the person they interviewed has tons of experience with engineering.  Is this technically a "lie"?

Consider Acts 5:1-11.  What did Ananias actually say to Peter when he brought the money from selling the property? There are two possibilities; first, Ananias verbally told Peter that the money he brought was the entire proceeds from the sale, or second, Ananias simply brought the money before Peter, laid it down, and intended for Peter to believe that he had brought all of the money.  While we do not have a written record of what Ananias did or did not say, it is clear that Ananias intended to deceive Peter, the Apostles, and his fellow Christians (Note: of the two choices, it is most likely that Ananias verbally said something and that we simply aren't provided with that information).  Either way, Ananias intended to deceive.  Had it been left up to mere men, as Ananias supposed it would be, he might have gotten away with it and received the glory of men.  But he and his wife lied to the Holy Spirit; in other words, God knew the truth!

God obviously found lying (the intent to deceive) to be of serious consequence.  Do we view it in that manner? Do we tactfully word what we say, write, or what we post so as to lead others to believe one thing about us when the truth is something entirely different?

Consider Matthew 5:33-37.  Here, Jesus is talking about the taking of oaths and says that we should not swear by anything because our word should be sufficient.  While Jesus is not talking about lying here, He IS talking about the trustworthiness of our word.  He tells us to let our yes be yes, and our no be no.  Further, consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:33-37; we are either justified by our words or condemned by our words.

What is your intent?

Sounding a Trumpet

Why do we do the "good" things that we do? Why do we help fellow Christians in need? Why do we make the choice to do something for someone else or take on a seemingly insurmountable task?

In a social media driven world, "do not do your charitable deeds before men" takes on a whole new meaning! It is so easy for us to "do something" for another person, then immediately tell our 700+ Facebook friends in a post about how we've spent our day helping out a "friend in need."  As a result, when you turn on your computer and fire up Facebook, your newsfeed is filled with status updates such as, "I'm so blessed to have been able to go and mow Brother so-and-so's lawn because he is aged and cannot do it himself!" The question becomes, then, whether or not we have done it out of the goodness of our heart or if we are doing it so that others will look on our deed and praise us for our generosity?

Modern technology has provided easy avenues for narcissistic tendencies to be shown to the entire world; Americans are taught that it doesn't matter what their opinion is, it is worth hearing...even if it is illogical in every respect.  And should we do something "good," then the whole world has the right to hear about it! Christ, on the other hand, teaches exactly the opposite; there is no room for narcissism in a Christian's life.  Statements of a spiritual nature are to be based off of Scripture, not personal opinions and desires for how it "ought to be."  How we depict ourselves, whether in person or via the internet, is either a benefit to the cause of Christ or it gives the world an opportunity to blaspheme His name.

Let us consider a few pertinent Scriptures.  In Acts 4:32-37, we have the account of Barnabas selling his property and providing for his fellow Christians in need.  In this instance, Barnabas does this good deed because it was needed and other Christians were aware of what he had done because they had personally benefited from his sacrifice.  However, the beginning of Acts 5 paints a very different picture of some not so selfless Christians.  Here, the attitudes and actions of Ananias and Sapphira are contrasted with the actions of Barnabas (as denoted by the "But" in Acts 5:1).  Rather than sell their property for righteous reasons, as Barnabas had done, they chose to lie to the Holy Spirit in an effort at gaining the praise of their brethren, as well as benefiting financially.  As many today who attempt to deceive others, Ananias and Sapphira believed that they were only deceiving men.  However, Peter tells them that they lied to the Holy Spirit and not to men; is this not true today as well?

In Acts 9:36-43, we have the account of the death of Dorcas.  Acts 9:36 tells us that Dorcas "was full of good works and charitable deeds".  Had Dorcas paraded herself through the streets of Joppa announcing her own goodness? Had she sought out the praise of those around her? If she had a Facebook page, would she have posted, "Whew! So tired today after spending my day making garments for the women of Joppa...they can't pay me, but it was worth it!"? Doubtful.  Instead, it seems that the good deeds of Dorcas were known only because the people for whom she had performed these deeds recognized her goodness.  In other words, she did not have to TELL people that she was charitable because other people already knew it from experience (reference Acts 9:39).

From the examples of Barnabas and Dorcas, we are seeing exactly what Christ meant when He said not to do our charitable deeds before men.  While other people will know that we have done charitable deeds for them, we are not to do so for their praise.  In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus tells us that if we do our charitable deeds to be seen by men, God will not reward us for them.  He further tells us that when we have done a charitable deed, that we are not to "sound a trumpet before" ourselves so that we may receive the glory of men! The concept is that we do a charitable deed because it is the right thing to do, then we do not go around discussing it (Matthew 6:3-4).  It is hard not to allow your right hand to know what your left hand is doing...if you are telling everyone that you have done it!

Unfortunately, our modern culture has taught us that everyone ought to know everything that we do, whether it is appropriate to discuss what we do in a public setting or not! Often, people "sound a trumpet" before themselves for some choice that they have made or for some aid that they have given to another person.  Is this something that is new, however? It is not something that is new with our own generation; rather, it is something that has always been! Consider 2 Timothy 3:1-9 where Paul tells Timothy that perilous times would come because men were "lovers of themselves," among many other worldly things.  There is, in fact, a whole list of attributes that mankind has that keeps them separated from God, but is it coincidence that Paul places "lovers of themselves" at the head of such a list? If one loves themselves rather than God (and by extension, others), wouldn't the rest of this list naturally follow?

Denying ourselves is probably the hardest part of becoming a Christian and continuing to live faithfully for the rest of our lives.  In our "me first" society, it is hard to tell ourselves "no" to just about anything, but especially to make sure that we are putting other people ahead of ourselves.  As we have seen from the passages explored, we are to do charitable deeds for others because it is the right thing to do and because God recognizes those deeds, but we are not to ensure that everyone in the world knows how good and righteous we are because we have done something "good."

What Does Your Online Profile Say About Your Spirituality?

This past Sunday afternoon after our worship services, my family and I were in the process of returning home when we passed a local denomination.  In the parking lot of their building, a group of younger people were standing around and talking.  My wife and I both noticed it at the same time; they were all dressed in clothing that was unbefitting of Christians (1 Timothy 2:9-10), especially when you consider that they had just left their own worship service! The girls were in tight and extremely short shorts, and the guys were wearing shorts and tank tops! Now, was my first reaction was not to think about how spiritual those young people were, but rather about how worldly they were, and I was disappointed in both their dress and their behavior! Consider: did their dress and behavior show any distinction between themselves and any worldly person driving down the road? Did it denote any change in their spiritual lives? (Note - there would obviously be other doctrinal differences between us and I am NOT equating this denomination with the true kingdom of God). 

Many Christians will argue for the right to dress immodestly based on the idea that the Bible does not define specific lengths, but the question I want to pose is this: when you see a woman dressed in a bikini or a man dressed in a tank top (or no shirt), is your first thought about how godly and spiritual they are? Are you immediately impressed with their service to God? Please, take a moment and honestly ask yourself what your first thought is that goes through your mind.

This specific experience caused me to begin to think again about our influence in this world and how even some of what we deem to be the "little things" that we do can either make or break our spiritual influence with our friends in the world.  With the obvious rise in the use of social media in the modern world, we need to be particularly careful about our online persona! While we may find some things to be amusing, we need to consider what our "likes" say about us and our spirituality.  Most especially, we need to think about what our personal photos say about us!

There have been many instances in which I have seen faithful Christians "share" or "like" an image, saying, or joke on Facebook (or some other social media platform) that was connected to a website or Facebook page whose name contains a swear word or sexual innuendo.  While my first thought is to be lenient towards that Christian and to believe that they have not noticed that, does a non-Christian use such leniency? Are non-Christians seeing us as being careful and not participating in such things, or are they seeing us "liking" or "sharing" such things and assuming that it must be ok to do so? Or are they perhaps seeing no difference between our activities and their activities, and wondering why there is no difference? 

Unfortunately, there are also many photographs of Christians floating around the social media world in which they are dressed immodestly, are in spiritually compromising locations (such as bars), or are in compromising physical positions that are intended to be "funny."  Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 where Paul writes, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (KJV) and ask yourself if these types of photographs and actions are doing that? What do your photographs say about your spirituality? 

Recently, I read an article that made an excellent point concerning what picture we paint of our children online; we often post pictures of our children in just their diapers (or nothing at all!), in the bath, or in clothing that disrespects them.  We often forget that once something is posted online, it is there forever (even if deleted, it can still be found somewhere).  Consider Ephesians 6:1-4 and Proverbs 22:6; if we post these types of things about our children, are we truly respecting them?

Let us take that principle a step further; many Christians will even run down their spouse by posting inappropriate stories, inappropriate pictures of their spouse, and even inappropriate pictures of themselves.  Does this depict the attitude in Ephesians 5:22-33 that a couple is to have concerning one another? It is "funny" or does it just harm the relationship between you, as well as the influence you have on the world? 

It is probably fair to say that every single one of us needs to be more careful in this area.  Remember that we do not always know who may be watching us and seeing how we act before they consider becoming a Christian! It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but only a moment or a post to ruin it (Ecclesiastes 7:1; 10:1-3; Proverbs 22:1).  

Judge Not - What Do the Scriptures Say About Judging?

In the world today (although this is nothing new), Christians are commonly faced with the argument “you shouldn’t judge!” It seems that no matter what the sin, whether it is gossip, lying, murder, or the current hot-button issue of homosexuality, the Christian is judged to have the wrong attitude by “judging” the person committing the sin.  If a Christian tries to explain to a person that they are doing something contrary to the Gospel of Christ, the almost instantaneous retort is “judge not that ye be not judged!”  This retort is generally followed up by an attempt to show some perceived or even real hypocrisy in the life of the Christian, which is thought to negate the sin in their own life. 

Now, can a Christian be a hypocrite in their judging of others? Absolutely.  Does that hypocrisy negate the sin the Christian is addressing in the life of another? Absolutely not.  Can a Christian justly judge another human being as living in sin? Again, absolutely.  Let us take a few moments and look at the Scriptures, not to cement our already preconceived notions (whatever they may be), but to see what the Scriptures actually say about judging. 

Matthew 7:1 is possibly the most used and misused verse in the Bible (excluding, perhaps, John 3:16).  Here, Jesus says, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (NKJV).  It seems that many readers stop with this single verse as though it encompasses the entire meaning of the passage and there is nothing else to consider (not trying to be harsh or unfair in this assessment, only stating from experience that I have never seen anyone try to quote anything from Matthew 7 beyond verse 1).  A little less often used is Romans 2:1-4.  Again, it seems as though many leave off with verse 4 instead of keeping it in context.  Should a discussion make it past these two verses, another popular retort comes from John 8:7 where Jesus says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” but once again context is generally neglected.  Now, to be fair, if these passages were the only ones that we had to go on (without even their immediate contexts), then coming to the conclusion that we as humans are not to judge one another would be a very logical and correct deduction.  But we need the rest of the story, so to speak, and that is found in the contexts of these passages, as well as in some additional ones found throughout the New Testament.

If we continue to read further in Matthew 7, Jesus goes on to tell us that the same measurement of judgment that we issue will be dealt back to us.  He absolutely DOES address the attitude of the judge and tells that person to remove the speck, or sin, from their own lives.  A Christian who obeys the Lord’s commands (Acts 2:38; John 14:15) has removed that speck, and thus can see clearly to remove the speck from another’s eye (Matthew 7:5).  Additionally, when a Christian uses the Scriptures as their measurement of judgment (again, attitude IS addressed in this passage), then of course we will be judged by the same measurement! In other words, Jesus addresses our attitude and essentially tells us not to take such a thing lightly.  Likewise, Romans 2:1-4 has a context.  At the end of Romans 1, Paul talks about those who are judging others as being in sin, but they themselves are doing the same things (so, for instance, an envious person is judging another person of envy, etc).  Further, Paul is discussing those that laid aside the will of God and embraced the evilness of this world (Romans 1:18-2:11).  In other words, the context of both of these passages does not indicate not judging at all, but only the right kind of judgment! The remainder of the context of John 8:1-7 is, actually, a perfect example to illustrate the discussion thus far.

While many people will read John 8:1-7, most will stop at verse 7, or at the very least they seem to ignore from there forward.  However, Jesus does address the attitude of the accusers, but He does not indicate that because the accusers had the wrong attitude that the woman’s sin was negated! What does Jesus actually do in this passage? The scribes and Pharisees had brought this woman to Jesus and accused her of adultery (since she was caught in the very act of it, have you ever wondered where the man was that was also involved?), but they were not accusing her to either save her soul or to even fulfill the law, as we are told in John 8:6.  Rather, they were brining her to Him in order to test Him! When Jesus tells them that the one without sin should cast the first stone, He is addressing their attitude, not whether or not the woman was guilty.  They are convicted by their own consciences (John 8:9).  Now, with the attitudes (which fully illustrates the wrong type of judgment discussed in both Matthew 7 and Romans 2) having been addressed, Jesus absolutely does show mercy to the woman.  He does NOT act as though she had not sinned, which is evidenced by the fact that He commands her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). 

Now, let’s take a step back for a moment.  Let’s assume for a moment that Matthew 7:1 and John 8:7 actually mean what they are generally misapplied to mean and that we are not to judge anyone.  Would that apply to the Apostle Paul? Surely we would tread carefully before judging an inspired man of God as not having the ability to judge someone in sin! Consider 1 Corinthians 5:3 where Paul writes, “For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.”  Note that Paul not only judges the man who has his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1), but that he addresses the attitude with which he did the judging (“…absent in body but present in spirit…”).  He also judges the congregation that had not dealt with this sin (1 Corinthians 5:2, 6)! Now, at this point, we may be tempted to make the argument that Paul was an inspired apostle and that we are not (please note 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 if this is your true stance).  Even if we again grant that argument, Paul did have the ability to judge and he has provided numerous lists of sins! There are at least four extensive lists of sins provided by God through Paul for us (1 Corinthians 6:8-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7).  Galatians 5 also includes “and the like” in the list, which indicates that there must be some sort of judgment made by man since it was written to man! All of these passages are in addition to Paul’s depiction of a Godless society in Romans 1! Thus, even if we grant that we cannot judge and that Paul, as an apostle, was allowed to judge where we are not, we have an entire list of sins that we cannot participate in.  In other words, Paul calls fornication a sin, so if a person commits fornication they are sinning…not by my word, but by the inspired writings of the apostle Paul!

As homosexuality is, as I said, the “hot-button” issue of the day, let us use that as an example.  Many people today call Christian’s “haters” if they oppose the sin of homosexuality and they tell Christians not to judge.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:8-10, condemns homosexuality and sodomy as being sins.  If a person is participating in those worldly things, how is it that a Christian is truly judging them? Christians merely utilize the Scriptures to show another human the path to heaven! Can a Christian do this with the wrong attitude? Absolutely.  If, perchance, a Christian DOES “judge” with the wrong attitude, is the person participating in these sins no longer a sinner? Of course they are still a sinner! Remember, while Jesus did address the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees, He did not forget that the woman had sinned!

While many people don’t think about it in these terms, all people make judgments.  If we decide that a person living in sin is “ok,” then we have judged them to be so.  If we make that decision and nobody else shows that person the Scriptures, then we may have also judged their eternal soul and condemned them to eternal torment because we were unwilling to help them see the sin in their life.  Do we want that soul’s condemnation on our hands because we had the opportunity to teach them? Do we want that on our hands in the day of our own judgment by the Lord? While they may or may not listen to us when we show them the Scriptures, our job is to show them the path to heaven!

Finally, as we begin to conclude, consider this: too much time is spent by Christians trying to defend their reasons for “judging.”  Too often, we spend so much time concentrating on the messenger’s attitude and making sure that they are doing it right (which, coincidently, involves judgment…) that the sin of the “judged” is overlooked or excused.  Note Proverbs 17:15 where we read, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord,” and Isaiah 5:20 where we read, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

How Do You React to God's Word?

There cannot be more of a difference in reactions to God’s word than what we find with Josiah and his son, Jehoiakim.  In Jeremiah 36, Jehoiakim is given God’s word and his reaction is much less than desirable.  Rather than accepting the word of God as it was, Jehoiakim has an adverse reaction and not only rejects it, but physically destroys the scroll that it was written on by Baruch.  When Jehudi “had read three or four columns,” the king cut the scroll up with the scribe’s knife as though that will alter what the message was!

          While many people today do not necessarily cut up the word of God with a knife, how often do they (we) cut it up metaphorically? In other words, we find a passage that we do not like for whatever reason, and instead of altering our attitude to fit the passage as it is, we attempt to alter the passage to fit our desires.  Thus, a passage condemning sin no longer condemns sin, but promotes it in some way, shape, or form!  How often have you seen this done (ref. 2 Peter 3:15-17)? Many misconstrue the Scriptures and develop elaborate doctrines (mental gymnastics) that alter “thou shalt not” into “go ahead and do what you want.”  Sometimes, people may not even do these things consciously; meaning, they are not sitting there thinking consciously that they are twisting the Scriptures! They often get caught up in something that they WANT to participate in, and therefore they seek a way to make that deed allowable by God.  Perhaps the biggest threat to Christianity is when we so often try to cover the sins of a loved one by trying to explain away what they are doing as being “ok.”  Does this actually alter the word of God?

          On the other hand, Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, had a completely different reaction to the word of God! While we should avoid having the reaction that Jehoiakim had, we should strive to have a reaction like Josiah.  In 2 Kings 22, the word of God is discovered and read to King Josiah (note: 2 Kings 22:2 says that Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord).  Josiah is distraught that they had not been following the word of God (he is distraught to the point of tearing his clothing – 22:11).  Unlike Jehoiakim, Josiah allows the word of God to create change in his own life and in the life of those he ruled over.  Throughout 2 Kings 23, we are told of how many things Josiah did to rid Israel of idolatry, which included tearing down alters and idols! Josiah not only heard the word of God, but made it applicable to his own life!

          Let us strive to be more like Josiah than Jehoiakim when we hear the word of God.  When God’s word shows us sin in our lives, let us seek to remove that sin rather than excusing it! When the Bible calls something sin, we need to accept that deed as such and not try to explain it away! This is applicable for us as individuals, but it is also applicable for those that we love; just because someone we love is doing something does not make it right in the eyes of God, nor does any amount of our explaining it away change God’s mind! Work to be more like Josiah and rid our lives of sin!  

Less Than the Best

In what other area of our lives would we accept the "desire" to do what is right? In what other area would we equate "desire" with "fulfillment"? Sometimes Christians, in their desire to attribute good to all they meet, will confuse the dsire to obtain the reward (heaven) with the desire to obey God.  Those two things are not one and the same, unfortunately for some.

Consider it this way: if you had to have brain surgery, do you want the person who wants the wage of a brain surgeon (the reward), or do you want the person who disciplined their life in order to be able to perform brain surgery successfully? There are a great many requirements to becoming a brain surgeon (and with good reason!); undergraduate work, graduage work, medical school, residencies, lab classes, etc.  Those that want to be a brain surgeon MUST fulfill these requirements (you might say that the path to becoming a surgeon is narrow).  Do you want someone who does not fulfill these requirements to cut into your head?

When we get to our spiritual life, however, we treat God as if He is lucky that we offer anything to Him at all.  Like becoming a surgeon (and even being able to maintain an active surgeon status, they have requirements for continued education, etc), the Christian has requirements to fulfill in order to achieve the reward of heaven, not JUST the desire to reach heaven (obviously having a desire to reach heaven does play a part...otherwise, why would anyone bother?).

We obviously would not allow the person who only desires the wages of a surgeon, but has not fulfilled the requirements to do such work, to do brain surgery on us.  However, we consistently accept (or make excuses for) those that have the "desire" for the reward of heaven, but do not do the commandments of the Lord (John 14:15; John 15:14).

Perhaps we should also consider it this way: would our jobs or school accept us doing our duties for them the way we do our duties for the Lord? If we constantly told our school or work that we simply "couldn't make it" in because of this reason or for that reason? If we were consistently late for either of those things? Yet, we aruge that this is acceptable for God and that God will just have to understand.  Consider Malachi 1:7-9 in which people were offering things to God that they would not dare to serve their dignitaries.  We often frown at passages such as this and shake our heads, but do we not do the same thing today when we offer God less than our best?

Remember Matthew 6:33 where we are told to seek the kingdom of God first.  The context of this passage is that God will see to our earthly needs as He sees fit if our service is first to Him, not this world.  This doesn't mean that we will necessarily be "rich" with earthly things, but we will have our needs met as He sees fit! We cannot use the materialistic things of this life that we "need" as an excuse not to obey the commandments of the Lord.  Remember the words of Joshua, "...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).

Prayer: the Forgotten Blessing

I know of a brother who, when he prays, always thanks God for the “beautiful day” that we are having.  I have heard him say that in prayer on days that the rain was coming down in sheets, and the wind was howling so loud that it was difficult to hear.  Now, some may say that he is guilty of rogue repetition–he’s just saying what he always says.  However, I know differently, because he often elaborates on his thoughts.  He seems to always find good in whatever kind of day that we are having (weather wise) and expresses his thankfulness to God.  The snow is beautiful.  The rain makes things grow.  The sunshine warms us.  He thinks of these things, and expresses them to God.

I believe we often forget just how great of a blessing prayer is for us as the children of God.  We have the ability to go before His throne, without fear (Hebrews 4:16), and bring our petitions to Him.  Sometimes we don’t think about this blessing until we have gotten ourselves into some problem and can’t find the way out.  We think of Him only when we need something from Him.  How many people think they are strong enough to get through anything that life can throw at them, and therefore don’t need God, and don’t need to ask Him for anything?  As the children of God, we should see our open line of communication with our Father.  We can pray to Him, and He will hear us–and more importantly, He can answer us!

But, the ability to make requests of God is only a portion of what we should use this line of communication for.  How long would we keep friends in this world if we only called upon them when we needed something from them?  There is much more that can be done in prayer than just asking God for the things that we need (though that is certainly a valuable blessing!).  If we don’t use prayer for all that it is intended, we are missing out on this great blessing handed to us by our God.

What other blessings are a part of prayer?  Consider just a few…

Praise. We can use our time in prayer to praise God for who He is, and for what He has done.  This is not something that is needed by God, for He does not change whether or not I praise Him.  However, it is a great blessing for us!  Even a casual reading of the Psalms reveals need for us to praise God.  Many of the Psalms are prayers that are converted into songs for the purpose of the people praising God.  When we spend time in praise, how can we possibly forget the majesty of God?  How can we forget what He has done for us, caring for us and providing spiritual salvation for us?  We can praise Him for His creation, and for providing every spiritual blessing through His Son.  We could spend much time praising God in our prayer!

Thanksgiving. Sometimes we are quick to ask God to help us, but not so quick to remember to thank Him when He answers our prayers.  We often make requests for physical blessings, or health and then fail to thank God for answering us in abundance.  How often might we ask for the healing of one of our loved ones, and then forget to thank God when that loved one regains his health?  It is easy to become consumed by our concerns, but we never should take our answered prayers for granted.  We can also use prayer to express our general thankfulness to God for His overflowing blessings.  He provides so much to us, we should remember to be thankful for His blessing (James 1:16-18).

Sharing concerns, trials. God does not need us to tell Him what troubles us, but it is a great blessing for us to be able to share it with Him.  Sharing our troubles with God through prayer helps us to identify exactly what is going on in our lives, and will help us to turn to Him and His word for solutions.  Sometimes we may become very self centered, and think that we can find our own solutions.  However, if we are casting our burden upon Him, we will be turning to Him for answers.  That may mean asking for His help in some way, but it may simply be a way of pinpointing our own issues, and committing ourselves to solutions based upon His desires for us (as expressed in His own word).

It may be challenging, but try to offer a prayer to God without asking Him for anything.  How much have we come to look upon prayer as only a time to make requests (sometimes even selfish requests) rather than a time of talking with our Father?  Sometimes we need to just stop and consider our relationship with Him.  Have we expressed our gratitude to Him for His loving kindness?  Have we expressed thankfulness for the beauty of His creation, and His provision for our every need through it?  Have we praised Him for being our God, and the all powerful creator of our world?    Just once today, try going to God in prayer expressing only gratitude and praise.  It is good to ask God for what we need, but let’s not become consumed with only making requests.  If we do, we are definitely forgetting one of the greatest blessings that God has given to us!

~Kris Brewer, April 2010

The Greatest is "Unconditional" Love

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talks in detail about how unconditional Godly love is and how we ought to love with the same love.  In 1 Corinthians 13:13, Paul says that we are to abide in “faith, hope, love, these three,” but the greatest is unconditional love.

Wait, that might not be what he said.  No, that isn’t what Paul taught, but that seems to be how many people today read the passage.  Love is defined (even by those claiming to be religious) as unconditional, non-judgmental, and without stipulation or consequence.  By this definition, we cannot convince or rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15) because we would be judging another person to have sinned, and those that advocate this definition of “love” are adamant about not judging (a very misapplied Matthew 7:1).  If we truly love someone, then we accept them the way that they are!

Let us examine some of these concepts and see if the previously defined version of “love” is the Biblical definition of “love.”  In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul says that even if he does great deeds (speaking in tongues, prophesying, great understanding of mysteries, feeding the poor, and even being burned) but doesn’t have love, it profits him nothing.  Paul then defines the characteristics of love for us: it is longsuffering and kind, it does not envy, it does not parade itself, it is not puffed up, it does not behave rudely, it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, it thinks no evil, it does not rejoice in iniquity, but it does rejoice in truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and it never fails.  How many of these characteristics fit into the definition of love found above? Many people that advocate this definition will say to someone they perceive to be judging them, “You need to love more!” What does this typically mean? The insinuation is that they have perfected love and that you need to love as they love.  Question: is this not “puffed up” and parading? Does a refusal to accept chastening fit with rejoicing in truth, or does it fit more with rejoicing in iniquity?

What about other passages that help us define love? Hebrews 12:5-8 tells us that those whom the Lord loves He chastens (in other words, He judges their activities/lifestyle/choices to be a transgression).  Do we dare tell the Lord that He doesn’t know how to love because He has chastened us?

How is love defined in 1 John? With the flighty, wishy-washy definition that we utilized at the beginning of this study, or is it defined as something of substance, something worth having? In 1 John 4, he writes that we are to love one another because love is of God (4:7-8).  How was God’s love for us made manifest? Through the sacrifice of His Son for our sins (4:9-10).  This is God’s definition of love! How are we to love one another? In the same manner that He loved us (4:11)!

There are many other passages, even in 1 John, that we could look at to further substantiate the true definition of love, but we will consider only a few more.  In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (which is the commandment spoken about in 1 John 1:7-8).  Did Christ come to the world to tell us that we are all fine in our current spiritual state? Did He come and die so that sin wouldn’t be judged as sin? No, Christ loved us and came to earth and died for our sins that we can have hope in eternal life.  There is substance to this love, not simply a phrase.  True love is all the things found in 1 Corinthians, plus the willingness to tell someone something they don’t want to hear in order that they can be saved.  If you are unwilling convince, rebuke, and exhort for the saving of their souls, then YOU DO NOT LOVE THEM.

In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”  What can we inescapably conclude from this passage? If we do not keep His commandments, then we do not love Him! We cannot claim to love God, but keep the ways of the world.  We cannot claim to love God, but walk in darkness (reference 1 John 1; Galatians 5:16-26; and Ephesians 5:1-21)!

Love God, obey His commandments!

Noah and the Ark

Genesis 6 (almost)
 

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.  I will ask man his opinion before making this decision though.”  There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.  Those were the might men who were of old, men of renown. 

Then the Lord saw that man did some things that could be considered wicked, but God didn’t want to judge their deeds.  And the Lord was sort of sorry that He had set in motion the events that evolved into the race of mankind. 

So the Lord said, “The earth may be destroyed by a flood that I cannot control, so I had better warn someone so that all things that evolved on the earth won’t perish.”  The Lord looked and saw that Noah was a self-defined moral man and that pleased the Lord.

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh may come about soon due to a flood.  This isn’t because of wickedness, for I don’t judge the deeds of men.  You maybe ought to build a ark out of gopherwood with some rooms inside of it.  Its length ought to be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  You should also make a window for the ark and it should be a cubit from above and there should be a door in the side of the ark.  You should make it with lower, second, and third decks. 

And so Noah, thinking that God might be right about a flood, decided to grace God by obeying His will.  And so Noah began to build the ark after a period of two or three years.  He went out and began to cut down large maple trees and pine trees, all of which he thought would be good for floatation.  Then Noah’s sons came and said, “Father, God said to use gopherwood, but you are using maple and pine!”  And Noah replied, “Sons, judge not that ye be not judged.  I believe that these woods are better than what God told me to use.  Besides, my personal walk with God is none of your business! You cannot judge me as not obeying the will of God!”  And so Noah’s sons were silenced and they realized how much wiser Noah was than God.

And so, Noah and his family were saved when the flood came about that God was lucky enough to guess was coming.  And God rejoiced that Noah had used his own knowledge of wood and that he had used more buoyant wood than gopherwood, because gopherwood would have sunk.   

 

Is this what Genesis 6 actually says? Absolutely not! Genesis 6:22 - "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."  God did not ask approval from mankind before destroying the world - God saw the wickedness of mankind.  Noah did not alter the plans for the ark!

We Can Do It Better Than God

We are surrounded by many today that have “good intentions” in their service to the Lord.  They seek out more “efficient” methods of completing the commands of God, but in doing so they neglect to also seek out the Bible authority for their methods.  Mankind, it seems, is stuck on the concept that they know how to accomplish the will of the Lord (evangelizing, benevolence, etc) better than the Lord.  To further clarify, man seems to think that their own methods are much more efficient than the methods set forth in the New Testament by the Lord.  Why didn’t God just ask us how to get things done correctly?

 

It is out of this false sense of self-importance that concepts such as institutionalism spring forth (there are many other false doctrines that can be utilized to express this point as well).  God’s method of benevolence just simply isn’t efficient enough, so let’s create an organization between the church and its members to take care of ALL the needy.  God’s method of evangelizing the world isn’t efficient enough either, so let’s create an institution or organization to take care of that as well.  God’s method of the older teaching the younger isn’t efficient either, so we’ll go ahead and create some manmade method of accomplishing this as well.  As you can see, God really should have asked us before commanding how these things ought to be done because we know better than God.  But, since we have good intentions and the ends justify the means, God will accept it in the end (and perhaps praise us for knowing more than He does about how the world works and how people will respond).

What about King David and Uzzah? In 2 Samuel 6, David decides that the Ark of the Covenant will be transported from Baale Judah on a cart rather than carried by the polls that were designed for this purpose (2 Samuel 6:1-5; Exodus 25:10-15).  Well, this makes sense, doesn’t it? Isn’t it a more “efficient” method of transporting the Ark? The Levites HAD to get tired from carrying around the Ark by those polls, so why wouldn’t a cart be a more efficient method of completing the command of the Lord?

…then the oxen stumbled (2 Samuel 6:6).  Uzzah, with his good intentions (and there is no reason to doubt that Uzzah had good intentions), reaches out to steady the Ark so that it doesn’t fall off of the cart.  God, who by this point realized that using a cart IS a more efficient method of doing His will, accepts Uzzah’s decision to touch the Ark because of his good intentions.

Obviously not! In 2 Samuel 6:7, the Lord becomes angry with Uzzah for touching the Ark and strikes him down. 

Rather than telling God that we know better than He does how to accomplish His will, we should actually DO His will! When you hear, "I don't need to show my authority for doing x, y, and z because they are 'good works,'" beware. If someone is being honest, they will be fine with being asked for their Bible authority for an action...and will even expect it and be happy that people are asking! (1 John 4:1-3) If someone is "offended" because you ask to see the Bible authority for what they are doing, then something is wrong! If they are trying to hide what they actually believe behind tricky words and avoidance of the subject, then there is something wrong (Romans 1:15-17; Colossians 3:17; 2 John 7-11).

Called of God

When you look up the definition of the word "call" or "called," it is defined as follows: (2) to command or request to come, (3) to ask or invite to come, (5) to rouse from sleep, as by a call; waken (dictionary.com).  Do these definitions not fit our own calling when it comes to the Lord? He calles us from our sleep (sin) to awaken us to righteousness.  God does not force obedience on any individual, but He has commanded righteousness in order to be saved.  He has offered the invitation to participate in salvation and eternal life.

Again, God doesn't force us to do anything.  We are "free" to continue in our sin if we so choose, but He readily invites us to participate in a whole list of wonderful things (belief [Hebrews 11:1-7]; rest after a faithful life [Matthew 11:28-30]; obedience [1 Thessalonians 1:9-10]; repentance and baptism [Acts 17:30-31; Acts 2:38]).  Should we not heed the call? Should we reject all the wonderful things that He has offered through the gospel and choose instead the things of this world?

Consider it this way: if somone offered you the choice between a coffee can of diamonds and a coffee can of sewer water, which would you choose? Nobody will force you to take the diamonds (which offers an inherent reward), but built into the coffee can of sewer water is the consequence of stink and putrification.

What will you choose?

Does Jesus Specifically Have to Say It?

Perhaps you have seen the argument that if Jesus didn’t specifically speak out against something, then modern Christians cannot speak about it.  This argument has been made on various topics throughout the years, but in more recent years it has been made concerning the sin of homosexuality.  Now, this post is not going to be about homosexuality, but it is the sin that this argument has been used to "justify" most recently.  However, it has been used for justification of other sins in the past and it will, I'm sure, be used in the future.

Perhaps you have seen this picture?

The argument, in other words, is that since Jesus did not make a specific point of calling homosexuality a sin, then we cannot say anything about it today.  The only way that an individual could possibly come to this conclusion is to cast aside the entirety of the Bible (generally in order to justify an activity they are already participating in).  However, this does lead to the question: does Jesus specifically have to say it?

If it is true that Jesus had to specifically say it, then to what purpose do we have the writings of the apostles? If the actual, verbal words of Jesus were the only ones that matter, then there truly would be no purpose to having the rest of the Bible.  Pack it up, toss it out, burn it, bury it, do whatever to it because it doesn’t matter.  But is this true? Just out of curiosity, what did Jesus say about this concept (since that is the original argument anyway)?

Turn to John 12:42-50.  In this passage, Jesus asserts two things; first, that the word He spoke would judge those that reject it (12:48), and second, that He spoke only that which God the Father had commanded Him (12:49-50).  Even Jesus, the Son of God, did as directed by God the Father.  Now turn to Matthew 16:13-20.  In this passage, Jesus grants to the apostles the “keys” to the kingdom of heaven.  What are those keys? Access to heaven through inspiration and knowledge of salvation, both of which came from God the Father! Jesus also states that whatever the apostles bound or loose on earth would likewise be bound or loosed in heaven.  Does this mean that God allowed the apostles to dictate to Him what would be taught (something that He did not even grant to the Son)? No, they were inspired to speak the will of God just as Jesus was.  How do we learn this? Through other passages concerning these same topics!

In 2 Peter 1:20-21, Peter writes that scripture is not for private interpretation (1:20) and that prophecy is not of men, but of God via the Holy Spirit (1:21).  In other words, the inspired men of God spoke as He moved them to speak.  They only conveyed the will of God to mankind, not their own will! Also, the truth is the truth regardless of how people try to interpret it differently than what it says (1:20).  In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul tells us that Christ is the power and wisdom of God.  Further, Christ became that wisdom for us (1:30), and therefore Paul came in spiritual wisdom to preach the message of salvation to mankind (2:1-16).  He did not come, as he states in chapter 2, in the wisdom of man, but the wisdom of God.

From all these passages, we can see that the assertion that the message HAS to come from Christ directly is false.  Many people want to look only at what Jesus said because they have a misconceived notion of what Jesus stood for and taught (in other words, while they argue for only looking at what Jesus actually said, they don’t even take all of what He said…just what they WANT to believe).  God inspired the prophets and the apostles, the writers of the Bible, and dictated to them the message they were to preach/teach/write. It ALL comes from God, whether Jesus said it or whether the apostles said it by way of inspiration.  Therefore, it does NOT have to be Jesus that specifically says something in order for it to be applicable!

"...there is no God..."

If there is no God, as atheists propose, then there can be no morals.  If there are no morals, then why bother attempting to "get along?" If there is no God, then why shouldn't we just murder everyone that disagrees with us?

Atheists do no follow their own logic! They say things such as, "We should all just try to be good people!" However, if there is no God to define what "good" actually is, then who defines what a "good" person is? You see, there is no standard upon which to base that statement! 

Consider Jeremiah 10:23, "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps."  If an atheist's view of life is to simply get along, but my view is to kill anyone that disagrees with me...who is to say that I am wrong? The question really is: how far do we really want to take an atheist's (lack of) logic?

Generally, atheists enjoy pointing out the crusades as a way of "discrediting" Christianity (even though the crusaders wore the name of Christian, they certainly didn't find any Bible authority for their actions).  In an atheist's eyes, this means that Christians have done more harm than good throughout history.  Again, how far do we really want to take this logic? Have we forgotten that Hitler, Stalin, Marx, and Lenin were all atheists? Do all atheists want to be lumped in with those men? Of course not!

King David said it best in Psalm 14:1-3, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'  They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.  The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.  They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."

The more society turns away from God, the worse society gets! 

Better to Obey Than to Sacrifice

In 1 Samuel 15, Saul, the first king of the Israelites, is commanded to utterly destroy the Amalekites.  Rather than utterly destroying everything, Saul spares Agag the king, as well as the best of the livestock, but he destroyed everything that was of no value.

Saul knew God and had a "personal relationship" with Him.  Saul also claimed to have obeyed the voice of the Lord (15:20).  And saving the livestock was what he and the people thought would be a "good" thing to do for God.  In fact, Saul claimed that the livestock had been saved as a sacrifice for the Lord...sacrificing was to be done because of disobedience...if they obeyed the Lord (aka - utterly destroying the Amalekites as commanded) then there would be no need for a sacrifice!

Many today advocate the doctrine that if we simply believe in God, then our works do nothing for us (cannot earn salvation).  Therefore, we don't actually have to concern ourselves with obeying the voice of the Lord because His grace will cover us.  If this is true, then why do we not see this in the case of King Saul?

In 1 Samuel 15:26, Samuel equates Saul's refusal to destroy the Amalekites (obeying the commandment of the Lord) with rejecting the word of the Lord.  The same is true today! If we say that we love God, but do not keep His commandments, we are rejecting His word (John 14:14-16; 1 John).

The Wrong...Fire?

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, we are told that the events that we find in the Old Testament are written to us as an example.  We are to look at those examples and glean the principles set forth by God for our edification.  With that in mind, turn to Leviticus 10:1-7.

While we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority since we now have the revelation of the New Testament, we certainly can use it to establish the need for such authority.  Leviticus 10 provides us with one of the clearest examples of the need for proper divine authority.  In this example, we have two men that were correct in their authority for most of their duties before the Lord and only did one thing contrary to what God had commanded them.  Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (the brother of Moses), were the correct men for the job, they had the correct censers for the job, and they had the correct incense for the job.  However, they used fire "which He [the Lord] had not commanded them" (10:1) instead of the proper fire obtained from the alter of the Lord (16:12).  What we learn from this example is that God does have all authority and that He does have requirements for our service to Him.  Also, we have to have everything correct in worship, not just partially correct! In this case, the penalty for their disobedience of God's authority was physical death, whereas our penalty could be spiritual death!

As previously stated, we cannot use the Old Testament as a source of authority, but it is there for our learning (Romans 15:1-5).  Does it make logical sense to look at an example such as this (Or to look at any of the examples used in 1 Corinthians 10 for that matter) and say that God no longer cares what we do in our worship to Him? That He only cares that we worship Him, but not how? We need to be careful to do ONLY what we find authorized and NOT what we think might be good or might improve our worship to Him!

Self-Control Series: Consequences (Article 03)

Our first article on the theme of self-control dealt with our ability to manage those whom we allow to influence our own spiritual choices, and our second article discussed our own attitudes concerning modesty/immodesty and how it both affects us and those around us.  As we conclude this short series, we will tie our original topics together and examine how a lack of self-control in either or both areas can bring about our own spiritual downfall. 

It is important that Christians realize that nobody else, not even the devil, has the power to remove our souls from salvation.  The only way that we can miss out on salvation is through our own choice to neglect the will of God.  Paul, in Romans 8:31-39, basically states this sentiment and tells us that we cannot be separated from the love of God by anything (note: the overall context discusses our obedience being essential and we should also tie this to John’s discussion of what love truly means in 1 John).  Therefore, the only person/being that can separate us from God is ourselves!

Having established that no one else can separate us from God, does this mean that others cannot influence us into separating ourselves from God? Absolutely not! Consider 1 Corinthians 15:33 where Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (ESV) and 1 Kings 11:4 where we have the example of King Solomon being turned from God due to the influence of his heathen wives.  Although we cannot be forcibly removed from God, we can be influenced into removing ourselves.  Although many Christians believe themselves to be so strong that they cannot stumble, there is a reason Paul writes that we are not to be deceived in this!  Our lives can and are influenced by those around us, which is why it is immensely important that we control those influences.  While we cannot always control those with whom we work or go to school with, we undoubtedly can control those whom we make our closest friends and companions.  Are your “best friends” those of the world or are they Christians? Does your best friend entice you to go out drinking, clubbing, smoking, or to wear lewd and immodest clothing?

If we believe that our worldly friends cannot or will not attempt to entice us away from God, or that we are simply too strong to allow that to happen, then we are mistaken (remember, Paul strongly stated not to be deceived).  When we associate with those of the world and see how they act/dress, we will be influenced into accepting it or even influenced to the point of participation.  Seeing others dress immodestly impacts our thinking and can lead to lust and/or fornication/adultery… even with the strongest of Christians! Romans 13:12-14 tells us to put aside the works of darkness (evil companionships, evil deeds, evil dress, etc) and put on the armor of light.  We are to walk properly, righteously, and not in “lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”  We put on Christ, and by doing so, we “make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (consider also 2 Peter 2:9-11; 1 John 2:15-17).  By surrounding ourselves with those that have not put away the works of darkness, we leave our own souls open for the devil to take.

In the Bible we read of men and women that were once righteous (and some returned to God), but were drawn away because they did not control the influences on their spiritual lives.  For example, consider Aaron in Exodus 32 and Solomon in 1 Kings.  Aaron was enticed by the Israelites to abandon God and to create a golden calf for them to worship.  Solomon, having been granted great wisdom by God (1 Kings 3:5-15), disobeyed God’s command and married heathen women.  We are told that Solomon’s wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all other wise men (1 Kings 4:29-34).  If Aaron and Solomon could be drawn away from God because they did not control those whom they allowed to influence them, could the same not happen to Christians today? If Solomon,  in all his wisdom, could be drawn away because he did exactly what God had commanded the Israelites not to do (marry foreign wives – 1 Kings 11:2), then why would we assume ourselves to be strong enough or wise enough to overcome such influences ourselves?

Brethren, we should not seek to get as close to evil as we can without going over some self-proclaimed line (as we discussed concerning modesty). We are to avoid evil companionships because of their influence on us and we are to be modest in our own dress because it expresses our godliness (and because we can cause others to stumble if we do otherwise).  It is nearly impossible to maintain self-control in mind and action when you do not control the circumstances.  In other words, while you absolutely CAN control how you dress yourself, you cannot control how others will dress… but you can make the conscious decision not go to a party or restaurant with someone who is or will be dressed inappropriately! If they dress in a manner that promotes lustful thoughts and/or fornication/adultery, then you are to avoid such companionships (we have used immodesty as an example, but the same principle can be applied to other sins: drunkenness, smoking, idolatry, etc).  In Philippians 4:8, we are to concentrate our minds on things of virtue, but how can we do this if we surround ourselves with people that draw our minds away from those virtues?

So, let us lay aside the carnal mindset (Romans 8:5-7), leave the works of darkness, and learn of the spiritual benefits of having fellowship with God and with one another (1 John 1:5-7).  Do we not gain more spiritually by associating with and doing good things for those of the same faith than we do by allowing ourselves to be tempted by the wrong associations (Galatians 6:9-11)? Remember, seek first the kingdom of God and allow that goal to guide every aspect of your life (Matthew 6:33), but also remember that we are NOT too strong to stumble (1 Corinthians 10:12)! 

Self-Control Series: Modesty & Immodesty (Article 02)

In our previous article, “Controlling Influences,” we discussed the outside influences that impact our lives, as well as how our own examples affect the lives of others.  Throughout this article, we will continue to examine those types of influences, but with a particular focus on how our modesty or immodesty affects others, Christians and non-Christians alike.  This study is particularly important because modest apparel seems to be taken for granted by many Christians today and they don’t honestly consider how their clothing affects others or what it says about their own spirituality.

The approach we will take in this study is somewhat different than many other Christians take when discussing modesty.  We will not attempt to set specific lengths for how long pants, skirts, etc, have to be, but rather we will discuss the attitude(s) behind modesty/immodesty and what our clothing says about our attitude.

How often have you heard fellow Christians that are going on vacation say that they cannot wait to wear their new swimsuit, or that they just bought a new pair of shorts, etc? How often have you heard something to the effect of, “I don’t FORCE anyone to look at my body” while having a discussion on modesty? Or perhaps you have heard the argument that since the Bible does not give an exact length for pants or skirts, then you cannot either.  True, the Bible does not state that our pants are to be 32.5 inches in length, nor does it say specifically that we shall not wear bikinis, swimsuits, shorts, or short skirts.  Remember, however, that the Bible does teach modest attitudes, and also that we are not searching for negative authority.  Let us turn our attention to some Bible passages and see exactly what it does teach us about modesty.

What does 1 Timothy 2:8-10 teach us about modesty? It teaches us that we are to be holy, which speaks to who we are and what our attitude should be towards obeying God.  We also learn about the two sides of immodesty: propriety and moderation.  Propriety is understanding what is appropriate to wear (i.e. – nothing revealing), while moderation keeps us in check on the other end of the spectrum (i.e. – not drawing undue attention because of costly clothing/jewelry).  What are these components of? Attire proper for women professing godliness! Also note that the term “in like manner also” found at the beginning of verse 9 connects this attitude of modesty back to the men in verse 8. 

In 1 Peter 3:1-6, we are taught that adornment is not to be concentrated on the outward, but on the inward.  Our dress should reflect the beauty of the incorruptible spirit that is within us.  We are taught through this passage that the attitude of modesty begins with the chaste spirit and that there were many godly women throughout the Bible that expressed this exact attitude! Again, what does this lead the Christian to? To the proper attitude and mindset (Philippians 4:8)!  What is the point of all of this? To be precious in the sight of God! This is to be done to show respect for God, for our fellow Christians, and also for ourselves.  By doing this, we keep ourselves pure and holy so that we can receive a greater reward than being able to wear inappropriate clothing on this earth!

Sadly, there are some Christians that advocate a “grey area” in our service to God, especially concerning modesty.  The grey area is when someone tries to get as close to the line of sin as we can without going over it (consider it this way: how short can we wear our pants/skirts before crossing the line into immodesty?).  However, what does it take to create a grey area? You have to mix light and darkness together.  Consider 1 John 1 in which we learn that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).  How can we advocate a grey area in our obedience when there is no darkness at all in God? If we attempt to walk as close to some imaginary, self-proclaimed line of sin without going over it, then we have already crossed it! Romans 8:5-6 tells us that there are two mindsets: one is concentrated on the spiritual while the other is concentrated on the carnal.  Thus, our intent shouldn’t be to pursue the carnal (advocating a grey area for our own personal desires), but rather on the spiritual (getting closer to God)…no matter what “sacrifice” we have to make on earth!

With these concepts in mind, let us turn our attention to what our attitude should be towards our brethren.  John 13:34 teaches us that we are to love one another as Christ loved us.  Additionally, Hebrews 10:24 tells us that we should consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.  How can we possibly fulfill either of these passages if we cause others to stumble spiritually because of the way we dress (Luke 17:1-2)? Our goal should be to love one another and for all of us to reach Heaven. How can we consciously do something on this earth that makes us “happy” if it harms other Christians?

Finally, what does our modesty/immodesty say about how we respect ourselves? As was written in 1 Peter 3, our attire reflects what we actually think about ourselves.  When we dress in inappropriate clothing, we disrespect not only God and our fellow Christians, but also ourselves! We are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27), be pure in action and thought (2 Timothy 2:22), and have purified hearts (1 Peter 1:22).  After considering all of these passages, it is impossible to honestly advocate immodest apparel!

So, as we conclude, consider that in Proverbs 7, we learn that there is attire that is “appropriate” for a harlot and that it provokes thoughts and feelings in the opposite sex that are improper! The world understands this concept and that clothing insinuates something about the wearer, but it seems that many Christians deny this fact.  We need to stop being selfish and carnally minded, and concern ourselves with the care and well-being of our fellow Christians! So, as we conclude, ask yourself what your attire says about your approach to obeying God and how you care for your fellow Christians.

Self-Control Series: Controlling Influences (Article 01)

It has been said that the greatest trick that Satan ever performed was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.  Unfortunately, many people today, both inside and outside of the church, act as though he does not really exist.  This attitude leaves a great opportunity for Satan to achieve his ultimate goal: separating souls from God! In 1 Peter 5:8, we are told to be “sober, be vigilant; because” our “adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  Using the language of battle, Peter teaches us here that Satan is not passively sitting by the sidelines and hoping that some soul will accidently end up in his hands, but rather that he is actively searching out souls and looking for opportunities to snatch souls away from salvation.  If Satan is actively working, then we must also be actively working against him!

How do we as Christians remove those opportunities from Satan? There are many ways to do this, but for the next few articles we will look at how self-control aids our battle against Satan in three key influential areas:  1.) self-control in who influences us; 2.) how modesty/immodesty impacts our spiritual life; 3.) how not controlling the previous two can lead to sins such as fornication and adultery.  The theme through all three sections is using the Bible to create proper self-control and not allowing these temptations to control us!

In order to combat the devil, we must control the outside influences on our physical and spiritual lives.  This includes the people we interact with, as well as things that impact our thinking such as books, movies, television, and many other possibilities.  For us to be able to properly control these mediums, we must first change our own hearts and minds so that we can properly identify the wrong influences.  In the book of Colossians, we are instructed to put to death the old man of sin and to put on the new man of Christ (Colossians 3:5-10; 12-17).  This dramatic alteration in our spiritual lives requires us to change at our very core: our hearts! In Matthew 15:19 we read that from “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”  Thus, if we change the heart, we can more readily identify the influences through which the devil seeks to devour us.  While our lives are to be guided by the will of God, He is not going to take control of our bodies and force us into the proper circumstances! If we control our hearts, then we will have the desire to control the circumstances into which we place ourselves and we are able to fight off temptation.

With this in mind we should remember that we cannot fully remove ourselves from the world around us. This is apparent given the infinite number of relationships a Christian will participate in throughout the course of his or her life.   Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, writes that Christians cannot remove themselves from the world and completely disassociate themselves from the people around them, whether good or bad.  We must still work with, do business with, and go to school with people from the world that are still lost in sin.  Also, take note that we are not discussing whether or not we should be teaching the world about God; we are discussing socializing with the world and the impact that can have on our spiritual welfare.  

Not being able to completely remove ourselves from the world does not give us the freedom to excuse letting such associations have control over us! A common misconception (read: mistake) that many Christians tend to make is that they should associate with the most vile of people (meaning, they make them their best friends) because they want to be a “good example” to them.  Consider also 1 Corinthians 15:33 where Paul writes that we are not to be deceived and that “Evil company corrupts good habits.” If you take a good, healthy potato and place it in a bag full of rotten potatoes, does that good potato heal all of the rotten ones?

As Solomon asks in Proverbs 6:27-28, can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? So it is with evil companions! While we may seek to be a good influence on our friends in the world by going out to a party with them, but not drinking, we are only opening up an avenue of temptation through which the devil may devour us.  Consider it this way: if a Christian struggles greatly with the temptation of drinking because of their past life, then why would it be a good idea to go to a party with worldly friends where drinking and getting drunk are the main forms of entertainment? James 4:7 tells us that we should “submit to God” and that we are to “resist the devil and he will flee” from us.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23, we read to “(21) Test all things; hold fast what is good.  (22)Abstain from every form of evil.  (23)Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The language in both of these applicable passages is active: we must actively battle Satan and temptation by submitting ourselves to God and controlling what events and activities influence us.  We cannot place ourselves in circumstances where we will be tempted and expect ourselves to be strong enough not to stumble (see 1 Corinthians 10:12).  Consider the example of Joseph in Genesis 39: when temptation came on him in a circumstance that he actually could not control, he literally fled.  This is a perfectly acceptable reaction to sin and temptation today!

Surrounding ourselves with worldly companions simply opens a door for those influences to lead us from the path of righteousness and into sin.  Consider how Solomon, in all of the wisdom given to him by God, chose to marry wives from pagan nations; in the end, those same wives turned his head from God (1 Kings 11:4).  Remember also the influential power of the people of Israel when they convinced Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship (Exodus 32).  The people around us will have an impact on the way we think and the things we decide to partake in, but we must control that impact us by controlling those with whom we most closely associate!