How Do You Live a Blameless Life?

This sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!

How do you live a blameless life? I think that is one of the questions we expect the church to help us find the answer to. Most of you presumably believe in God. Many of you believe in Jesus Christ, that He died for you and rose again to give you a new life, but all of us struggle with how to live our lives in a blameless way. We want to be good, but recognize that at times we are not good enough. We’re not blameless. We may try to blame others for our problems so that we can consider ourselves blameless. I have always been a really good “blame-hunter.” I try to hunt down who is responsible for a problem and then address it with them. If they are my kids, I want them to own their mistake or sin and repent of it. I let up as soon as I see that remorse and repentance. Am I the only one here who acts as a “blame-hunter”? However, hunting blame and offloading it onto others, is not blamelessness as God defines it. Instead of a “Don’t Blame Me!” attitude, we need “Can’t Blame Me!” actions. What that means is that we live in such a way that people can’t find blame or fault in our actions and particularly our motivations. People may still accuse you of wrongdoing, but the charges don’t stick. Blameless people are like Teflon: nothing sticks! This is why in Philippians 2:14-15 we are commanded, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world.” Isn’t it interesting our blamelessness here is connected with a life devoid of complaining? If you don’t complain, people will have less basis for a complaint against you! Sounds great, but it feels impossible!

In the Bible, one of the disturbing expectations is that we are to live a blameless life! For example, Psalm 119 starts out with “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” (Psalm 119:1) We are supposed to live by “can’t blame me” actions. The trouble is that being blameless feels elusive and always out of reach. We try to live blameless but we can’t. So maybe we should aim at a different target. Maybe we need to have a better definition of blamelessness since we already know it isn’t to be blameful. I used to think blamelessness meant to be perfect or to be without sin. However, if that was the case, then God would be playing a cruel joke on us because He has already declared that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) So Blameless ≠ sinless! And blameless doesn’t mean perfection. God’s holiness requires that we be sinless and perfect, but He knows that we are not. So maybe He just wants us to be blameless? He desires our innocence, but can live with our unintentional mistakes? Some describe blamelessness like somebody spilling the milk. They made a mistake and knocked over the milk spilling it all over the floor. It’s messy! They’re at fault! Maybe it even seeped into the floor and warped it? But they didn’t sin. Or to give you a personal example, I was interviewed for a volunteer coaching position and was asked by the interviewers why they should give me the position. I felt I didn’t give them a great answer. So afterwards I felt this little check in my spirit that I needed to tell them that I am trying to instill a different culture and character into the team because I believe only God changes lives. I was blameless in that I didn’t intentionally neglect to give credit to God. When I realized I should, I called the leader and told them that I believed God can change people’s hearts. I would have been sinning if I didn’t obey the whisper of the Holy Spirit, but can maintain blamelessness because I corrected my mistake. I hope telling that story will encourage you that when you shy back from pointing others to Christ or fail in some other way that you will maintain your blamelessness by correcting your shortcomings even if done unintentionally.

I hope this also helps you understand more what blamelessness is and what it is not. However, we haven’t even got to the more important question of how we live blameless lives. Psalm 101 directs us to the right answer. I have to tell you that this was not a sermon I wanted to preach. I started studying it and thought it was too convicting, so I tried to preach something else. God and I wrestled about it. He won! So this sermon is for all of us who are struggling to live blameless lives. Let’s read Psalm 101 together. Read Psalm 101!

Psalm 101 is a psalm written and attributed to David. We are not sure if he wrote it as a younger man looking to the future to resolutely live a blameless life or whether he is writing the psalm in mid-life after messing up enough in his life to know he needs to change or whether he is writing it as an older man ready to finish strong with a blameless life. We do know that he is a husband and father because he mentions how he will “walk within his house” (v. 2) and that deceivers would not “dwell within his house” (v. 7). David has left his father’s house and made his own. We also can presume that when David wrote this song he was the official king of Israel because he declares in verse 8, “Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, so as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.” Iniquity means in a very simple and memorable way “a lack of integrity.”[1] David as the king sought to cut off those who practiced iniquity, who lacked integrity.

This background is important because if David wrote this as king and he was already a family man, then we have some serious issues to address. David says that he “will walk within his house in the integrity of his heart.” (v. 2) If this is before the incident when he was on the palace rooftop and saw Bathsheba bathing and took her into his home and committed adultery with her (2 Samuel 11), then we know that he was not blameless. He did set before his eyes something that was “vile” as the New Living Translation puts it. This is where some of us are at today. We have been resolute in living a blameless life, but we have messed up big time. So this psalm convicts us.

If on the other hand, David is writing this psalm after the Bathsheba incident, you can imagine the scoffers saying how dare David write a psalm about his blamelessness when he committed adultery and then murdered Bathsheba’s husband Uriah. What a hypocrite! For all those types of critics in your life, I would remind us of what repentance is all about. Are we to give up and continue in our sin? Or are we not to from this day forward to walk within our house in the integrity of our hearts?

And then there is another point of contention in this psalm calling for integrity. It questions the integrity of the author. Verse 7 records the declarations of David, “He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me.” The problem is that David didn’t have to go too far down the hallway to find deceit in his children’s bedrooms. No, there was not a wicked website that his son or daughter visited, but there was wickedness. There is an awful story in 2 Samuel 13 of his son Amnon who feigned sickness so his sister Tamar could tend to him. His deception was a ruse to rape her and then when he overpowered her, he despised and rejected her. What did David do? 2 Samuel 13:21 records, “Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry.” In other words, David got angry, but did nothing. He let deceivers continue to dwell within his house and maintain their princely position with him. Later on, this inaction by David led to his other son Absalom taking up an offense for his sister Tamar and seeking revenge by killing his brother Amnon.

Maybe David felt paralyzed to act because he felt like to do so would be hypocrisy. He had seduced Bathsheba. He had killed Bathsheba’s husband. David had been using deceit as his default for some time going all the way back to when he was on the run from Saul and told Ahimelech, the priest at Nob, that he was on a mission from Saul (1 Samuel 21:1-2). It shows that rooting out deceit starts out not just at home, but in front of our own mirror.

So does this undermine the veracity of this psalm? Is this psalm still true? More importantly, can and should we still truly pray it and live it? ABSOLUTELY YES! We should make every effort to “set no worthless thing before our eyes” as verse 3 declares. The “worthless thing” David was talking about is literally translated “a thing of Belial.”[2] Belial should sound familiar because it is the same name that the Apostle Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 6:15, “Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” Belial is another name for the devil and Paul is saying that you can’t have two allegiances. You can’t play on the devil’s team and Christ’s team. It is like you can’t play for the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at the same time. And how does one give Belial, the devil, a cracked door into our lives? Ephesians 4:26-27 teaches that unresolved anger gives the devil a foothold, “Be angry, but do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil a foothold.” But it isn’t just anger, it is through our eyes – what we watch. Video games, movies and TV shows that portray violence, killing, the occult, extra-marital sexuality are all doorways for the Evil One. I know this is a vulnerable area in my life, so we don’t have cable or satellite for our TV. We have instituted blocks on all our computers and internet-connected devices. Living a life of grace doesn’t mean we can live our lives without any boundaries. Grace just allows us to now unashamedly look Jesus in the face. When we stand before Him in judgment. Jesus gives us commands and boundaries to protect us from hurting ourselves. So how can you protect yourself from setting any worthless thing before your eyes? Being blameless requires vigilance in what we watch!

The end of verse 3 serves as a warning, “I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.” Notice how David says he hates the work of those who fall away, but does not hate the fallen. It is not the person but the demonic work that David wants to slip away from. He does not want to be in the grasp of wickedness. He also knows that it starts internally as verse 4 declares, “A perverse heart shall depart from me, I will know no evil.” The desire for evil has to be rooted out. Otherwise, it will be acted out. These desires often start with comparison to others. We are back to the “blame game.” Verse 5 describes David’s vigilance about slander. “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; no one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.” To be blameless, we can’t stop at being careful with what we watch, but we also need to guard what we say.

In order to do this, we need help. David recognized this when he wrote in verse 6, “My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.” Blamelessness happens by osmosis. Over time by being near to somebody, there is a transfer of their morals, beliefs and values. Living with my wife has taught me how to be gracious. The grace she shows to others is rubbing off on me. I think we know intuitively that hanging around the right crowd influences us for good. This past week we travelled down to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I was intrigued why so many Christians go to visit the Amish. The same could be said about how people visit our area and particularly, St. Jacobs. Here is my theory. A part of us wants to be around something wholesome and good. The Amish keep their farms so neat and organized. Their craftsmanship is built to last beyond them to multiple generations. It is their theology that drives their work ethic. They believe that they will stand before Christ with the hope of a new heaven and new earth and they want their work to last. They pray like Moses, “Make permanent (establish) the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:17) I think we want that as Christians as opposed to the fast-food, disposable society we now live in. For example, we had to get a new dishwasher this week after it was installed into our house only 5 years ago.

You see, we want to around something good that lasts. There is an innate desire for blamelessness and innocence innately in our lives that harkens back to Eden. And the good news is that though this psalm at first glance seems oppressive and impossible to live up to, there is much hope. It is why this psalm should and can still be prayed. David more than hints that it was the Lord who would help him lead a blameless life. Did you notice verse 2? “I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me?” The NASB capitalizes the pronoun “You” to delineate that this wasn’t just David trying to personify blamelessness, but that God Himself, the Blameless One, would come to him. There was a longing for the Blameless One to come. David reiterates this in verse 6, “My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.” David expected and yearned for God, the only Blameless One, to come. When did God come? When did the one who was faithful and walked in a completely blameless way come so that He could minister to us? Almost, 2000 years ago when Jesus came to earth! He lived a perfect, sinless and blameless life. He ended up dying for us and rising again so that He could still dwell with us and minister to us.

And this explains why the psalm starts out with praise: “I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O Lord, I will sing praise.” How does this praise of God motivate us to live a blameless life? You remember when you do fail that there is God’s lovingkindness and yet there is also justice that motivates us to do right. We need both. I heard philosophy professor and news commentator Dr. Cornel West say this week after the tragic shooting of a news reporter and her cameraman on live TV that, “When you suffer from a love deficit, you will suffer from a justice deficit.”[3] The gunmen thought that he was not loved, so he took justice into his own hands. That never works though. The good news is that there is no love and justice deficit from God towards us. His justice calls us to accountability and His love reminds us that there is grace and mercy if we fail. And these two characteristics of God, love and justice, motivate us to live a blameless life.

As a parent, pastor, leader and coach, I have been thinking a lot about how to motivate people to have integrity and live blameless lives. I have tried inspirational stories. I have tried cajoling. I have tried threats. None of these work! Osmosis does! The ultimate osmosis! When you follow Christ, recalling His love and justice as demonstrated at the Cross, you realize that Jesus has given you and I His life so that we can live a blameless life.

[1] Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 572.

[2] William A. VanGemeren, Psalms – The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 642.

[3] Cornel West, CNN “New Day” TV Interview, August 27, 2015.

Are You Passing the Test of Faith?

This sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!

“When was the last time you conducted an examination of your spiritual life? (Bryan Paulus) Honestly, most of us hate getting a physical examination. It takes time. It’s intrusive.”[1] I distinctly recall getting exams when I immigrated to the U.S. and the x-ray of my lungs to make sure that I didn’t have TB and bring that contagious disease into their country. Lots of poking and prodding! Do you know what I am talking about? I also remember getting an exam so that I could get release to play basketball in college. The toughest part about the exam was the forced cough to make sure I didn’t have a hernia. Bryan Paul reminds us that though physical exams are unpleasant, they are helpful in that “they could reveal something is not right. There is only one reason why we go to our physicals: we know we should. Because we are stewards of God’s creation, we care about fulfilling God’s purposes, and we care about how our physical health impacts others, especially our loved ones. So we gather up courage, invest the necessary time, and spend good money to be thoroughly searched. And I mean thoroughly. My doctor literally asks me fifty questions before the physical portion of the exam even begins! But he doesn’t stop with diagnosis. He sets up another appointment to talk about solutions. He reminds me that it’s not enough to identify areas of need. We must work to make corrections. That tells me he cares.”[2]

Today, the Great Physician Jesus Christ wants you to know He cares! This is why we are going to take a spiritual exam. God wants you to pass the test. He is a not mean teacher trying to make you fail. He wants to test you to encourage the areas you are doing well and make you aware of the areas that you can improve in. And in the areas of your weaknesses, He will even make up the difference with His grace. We are commanded in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine ourselves! Let’s read 2 Corinthians 13 to find out how to pass the test of faith! Read 2 Corinthians 13!

Paul concludes his second letter to the Corinthians by letting him know that he plans to visit the Church at Corinth a third time. We see that in verse 1. He actually is coming to discipline them. Now for us in churches that do not have a headquarters, we are not used to a leader coming to inspect us. For you in the business world, you might know what it feels like to have your CEO come and visit your workplace. Your bosses get more uptight and everybody wants to put their best foot forward. In this case, many in the Church of Corinth did not consider Paul their leader. He wasn’t their bishop, cardinal or pope! In fact, they questioned whether he was even an apostle – someone called and sent by God! Verse 3 says they wanted proof that Jesus Christ was living in Paul. They thought Christ was powerful in them. They had seen all sorts of miracles and spiritual gifts in their midst and so they thought they were a very happening church, blessed by God, despite there was outright sin in their midst (divisions, fighting, immorality and lawsuits as we read about in 1 Corinthians). The Corinthians thought they were spiritually healthy when in reality they were sick. Paul had warned the Corinthians once. He sent his apprentice Titus to warn them again (2 Corinthians 12:18) and then Paul writes this second letter. Paul is now saying that he has a diagnosis for them. He has followed the steps of church discipline that Jesus outlined in Matthew 18:15-18 and has established their guilt by “the testimony of two or three witnesses” (2 Corinthians 13:1). Paul had dealt with the individual or individuals that wrongfully opposed him, but now he was ready to deal with the matter corporately. He wanted them to obey God’s Word, to respond positively to correction and to show appropriate love and affection. This wasn’t to show that Paul was the boss, but to mature and complete the Corinthians. Look at verses 7-9: “Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong, this we also pray for, that you may be made complete.”

And this is true for us as well. God wants us to obey His Word and respond to His discipline and correction with the goal of completing us mentioned again in verse 11. To be made complete by God is to be like His Son Jesus! This is why we are going to take a test this morning: a test of faith! The word to be ‘made complete’ means “to set a broken bone, to adjust a twisted limb.”[3] And this is what the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, is doing when He gives us a spiritual exam. Notice it is the not the test of obedience, but the test of faith to see if we are in the faith as verse 5 describes. This means that you are trusting Christ to help you pass this test, but it can’t be like how we sometimes take tests in school when we don’t study and then ask God to do the miracle of giving us a passing grade. This test requires acting in faith and relying on God’s grace. Therefore, let’s take the test by answering the following questions that I have pulled out from each of the first 12 chapters in 2 Corinthians. For those of you just joining this study, this will also help you get a good summary of each chapter of this letter as well as apply it to your life. Now, you simply need to write YES or NO to each question and then try to answer the question HOW you are passing or failing? Here’s the first question:

• Are you suffering for Christ? (1:5; 11:23-29) NOTE: Self-inflicted suffering due to sin doesn’t count! I am not talking about suffering if you are obnoxious or stealing from your employer by sharing the gospel on the company’s dime. I am talking about the fact that you are lovingly proclaiming the truth of Jesus and have been rejected for it. Do people know that you are a Christian and that Jesus declares He is the only way to God? If so, remember 2 Corinthians 1:5, “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” You will be comforted if you suffer for Christ.
• Do you have integrity? (1:12) Is your conduct holy, sincere, and done in a good conscience before God relying on His grace? Do you keep your word even when it hurts or costs you?
• Do you shed tears over your sin and the sins of others? (2:1-4) Paul wrote tear-stained letters begging the Corinthians to repent of their immorality and slander. When was the last time you wept over sin – yours and others? Does sin bother you? If it does, it shows that a Holy God through the Holy Spirit is living mightily in you.
• Do you restore the repentant? (2:8-10, esp. 9) Are you a grace-filled person? The very person who attacked Paul and was disciplined by the church, Paul wanted the Corinthians to restore. Paul was filled with forgiveness. If you are not a forgiving person, you won’t be a forgiven person by God! A Christian always wants people to repent. It may take you a little while to get there but this test question is almost worth double. In 2 Corinthians 2:9, Paul mentions that this is one of the major reasons why he wrote the letter – to reaffirm love for the repentant and to see if the Corinthians could be obedient to restoring the wayward. Did you catch the irony? If we don’t restore those who were once disobedient, we ourselves are disobedient! And then as 2 Corinthians 2:10 says, we give Satan advantage in our lives! Yikes! You need to forgive and restore today!
• Do people read you as a love letter of Christ? (3:1-17) When people see your life, do they see it full of the love of Christ?
• Do you preach Christ or yourself? (4:5) When you talk to people does the conversation surround Christ or is it about your accomplishments and aspirations? This takes humility and understanding the amazing grace of Christ in your life that He does not treat you are your sins deserve. Or are you more like “the church member who was awarded a medal for humility, but then had it taken it away because he wore it.”[4] The great theologian and philosopher Jonathan Edwards describes the spiritually proud person as those who “do not need instruction but instruct others, who tend to speak of others’ sins, who often speak of almost everything they see in others in the harshest, most severe language, to act differently in different situations based on others’ opinion and they take great notice of opposition and injuries and are prone to speak often about them with an air of bitterness or contempt and finally to behave in ways that make them the focus of others.”[5] Elevating Christ and not yourself is the remedy to spiritual pride.
• Are you choosing the eternal over the temporary? (5:1-10) Is your calendar and checkbook filled with things that will last for eternity? Of course, we have to do the mundane things of life like going to the grocery store or doctor or dentist, but even those things, do you see them as disciple-making opportunities?
• Are you an ambassador of reconciliation? (5:11-21) Are you bringing people back together through the grace of God? Are you praying for those who are at odds with each other and trying to meet with both of them hoping for reconciliation? 2 Corinthians 13:11 commands, “Be like-minded, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
• Is your primary identity with God and his family? (6:1-18) Knowing how to engage the world without becoming a part of it and compromising your character and message for Christ is very difficult. However, you have to remember that your number one priority and allegiance is to God and His family the church! Of course you should spend time with those far from God. How else will they know about Jesus? But you need to prioritize God and His family. One of the ways to do this is to make church attendance a regular habit, even on vacation. You and I can meet God privately all week long, but I also need to be with His people worshipping Him. Small groups also need to be a high priority in your life because there are no “lone ranger” Christians. If you have not joined a small group, talk to me today. Besides, the church should be the go to place for encouragement and accountability. They build into you, like Paul says in verse 10, rather than tear you down. This is why we are to show appropriate affection. Paul calls it “greet one another with a holy kiss.” (v. 12) For me, I am not one of those huggy-types except with my family, but I was recently talking to somebody with same-sex attraction and they said that a side hug from Christians would have helped them immensely growing up and overcoming the bitterness they have towards Christians. Instead, they turned to the affections of those that has brought hurt and pain. We need to show appropriate affection to each and every person.
• When you sin, do you feel bad about what costs you or what it costs God? (7:10-11) The difference between worldly and godly sorrow is who you are upset with when you get caught in your sin. If your immediate response when getting caught, is I hope my spouse, boss or parents don’t find out, then that is worldly sorrow. However, if you think about how that sin was like a hammer into the hands of Christ on the Cross, then that is godly sorrow.
• Are you generous and cheerful in your giving, especially to the poor and to the Lord’s work? (8:1-9:15) You need to have both. You can be a cheerful giver because you are not giving much. You can be a generous giver, writing a big check, but begrudgingly, which doesn’t show the joy of Christ in you. God wants you to give because He was and is a generous and cheerful giver. God was not up in heaven saying, I guess I have to give my one and only Son to those wretched rebels down there because nobody else will help them. No, He looked down on us with love and said I joyfully give the best I have, my one and only Son!
• Are you fighting the battle for your with meekness? (10:1-18) When you encounter battles in life, often initiated by the kingdom of darkness, is your first reaction to fight back with verbal sparring, finding fault in your opponent or do you pray and respond with meekness like Christ did?
• Do you have a focus on heaven and are looking forward to seeing Jesus? (12:1-6; c.f. 5:6-10) Is focusing on seeing Jesus reordering how you are living down here on earth?
• Are you thankful and boast about your weaknesses because they show God’s strength and grace? (12:7-21) Are you trying to overcome your weaknesses or are you recognizing them as a gift from God so that you would have to be dependent upon and be perfected by Him?
• Are you practicing impurity, immorality and sensuality? (12:21) Notice that I said, “Are you practicing (present tense) impurity?” If you have practiced impurity, immorality and sensuality in the past and have repented to God, then you have received His grace. However, if you continue to practice impurity, then you need to seriously question whether you are of the Faith. You are not acting in faith! You are not trusting Christ and His ways to be your source of pleasure and satisfaction.

For each question, are you trusting in Christ and His grace to answer “yes”? See, the problem is that none of us get perfect on this test. This is the hope of the Gospel as verse 4 declares, “For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.” This is why Paul says, “Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” in verse 5. When we are weak and we fail, we immediately ask Jesus for the answer or for help. Specifically, it works this way: when we don’t feel like suffering for Christ, we have to remember how he suffered for us! When we are tempted to not have integrity and live in the light and by truth we need to remember that Christ is the Truth. When we become indifferent to sin and no longer weep over our sin or others, we need to remember that Christ was moved by our sin that He sweat drops of blood in anxious prayer over us. When we don’t feel like restoring the repentant, then we need to remember how precious Jesus’ restoration of us was as repentant sinners? Or when we would rather preaching about ourselves than Christ, may we need to remember that our very breath is given by God and yet He humbled Himself so that He could righteously boast someday of us, “Well, done good and faithful servants!” When we would rather get temporary pleasure over the eternal, may we recall how Jesus choose the eternal by not giving into sin. Or when we don’t feel like reconciling people at odds with each other, we need to remember how Jesus reconciled us to God.

Sometimes students try to pass an exam by getting the answers to the question. What is great about the test of faith is that you and I don’t have to cheat nor are we able to cheat. Instead, it is a test of faith – you are trusting Jesus to come help you with the answers, even take over for you when you fail. Are you passing the test of faith with Christ? If you do, you will experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which will be with all of us!

[1] Bryon Paulus, “Step One: Humility” Revive (Vol. 46, Issue 2, 2015), 3.

[2] Paulus, 3.

[3] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 679.

[4] Brian Hedges, “Cultivating Humility” Revive (Vol. 46, Issue 2, 2015), 18.

[5] Jonathan Edwards “Spiritual Pride” Revive (Vol. 46, Issue 2, 2015), 11-12.

How Can You Grow From Your Weaknesses?

This sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!

How are you growing from your weaknesses? Most of us don’t perceive our weaknesses as growth areas. We don’t embrace our weaknesses. We hide them like make-up applied over acne or blemishes. We deny or ignore our weaknesses. We minimize them. We are frustrated by them! Most of all, we try to overcome our weaknesses. In the business world, we are told by experts like Marcus Buckingham, that we need to “play to our strengths.”[1] In school, the subjects that we are not good in, we try to get by with a passing grade and then we focus on the subjects we really enjoy and excel in. We treat weaknesses like Superman did. We avoid whatever is like kryptonite to us. We try to evade what weakens us because we only want people to notice our strengths. This is why we don’t go to a pool party if we can’t swim or don’t have a perfect body, even though it might mean getting to know our neighbour. This is why we don’t join a small group because we think we might say something dumb or they will ask you to pray out loud. This is why we don’t serve, teach or sing because we can’t do it as well as somebody else. We work hard at evading our version of kryptonite!

In fact speaking of Superman, do you know who created the idea of Superman? Our Pastoral Intern Ben White recently taught me it was philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche of the “God is Dead” infamy. He introduces the concept of Übermensch (Superman) in his novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra[2]. Übermensch is in contrast to the otherworldliness of Christianity. Heaven was not for real for Nietzsche. He thought that heaven distracted us from doing what we ought to here on earth. Nietzsche was advocating that we should try to get the most of this earth and not focus on the next. How pervasive has that philosophy become in our culture? “Get it while you can!” “Make the most out of life!” “Live your life now!” Sadly, this philosophy has invaded the church, which is why last week’s sermon on having a vision of heaven is so crucial in properly ordering how we live our lives here on earth.

In Nietzsche’s view, humans should become Übermensch – their own supermen. In order to do that, we need to throw off the old values that derived from the concept of God (thus “God is Dead”) and we need to create a new sense of values. These values propose, “There are no grounds upon which to criticize or justify any action.”[3] Do you see again how Nietzsche’s view has been so widely adopted in our society, which believes truth is relative?

Back in the first half of the 20^th Century, Nietzsche was so influential that this view of the Übermensch was later used by the Nazi’s in purporting a superior Aryan race and justifying the genocide of millions of Jews. This is why Jerry Siegel, a Jew, originally made the comic-book hero Superman in 1933 to have dubious morals. Perhaps Siegel saw the hand-writing on the wall of where the Germans were heading with this philosophy. However, Joe Schuster (another Jew), Superman’s co-creator, eventually made him a moral character – one who conquers evil. Siegel and Schuster adapted Übermensch, but kept the idea that Superman saves the world through his strength and avoids his only weakness – kryptonite.

I tell all that because I want you to understand where our culture draws its cues in how we should relate to our weaknesses. However, I am also pointing us to the Superman complex prevalent today because as followers of Christ we are to relate to weaknesses in a whole different way. Today we are going to see from the life of the Apostle Paul how embracing your weakness may be the road to discovering a whole new vista of God’s grace. Embracing weaknesses will change your prayer life! It is going to cause you to run toward, instead of away from sickness, suffering and humiliation, but not in some sadomasochistic way where we love pain. Instead, embracing your weaknesses could save your marriage and family when you finally admit your weaknesses and seek God for His power to help you. Embracing your weaknesses could even save your soul! Let’s read 2 Corinthians 12:7-21! Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-21!

In our passage, Paul explains why he received his vision of heaven fourteen years earlier. He was ambiguous in verses 1-6 about the identity of the man he knew who visited the third heaven, but now he makes it clearer in verse 7, “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep ME from exalting MYSELF, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me – to keep me from exalting myself.” Notice that God gave Paul the vision of heaven, but He also gave Paul his thorn in the flesh. God didn’t want Paul to miss out on going to heaven after he died, so he gave Paul an earthly annoyance. This annoyance or weakness was impossible for Paul to ignore himself or for those with whom he came in contact. Paul’s weakness was well-known. Maybe your weakness is too big to hide and God did that to rescue you? You see, God gave Paul the vision of heaven, but God also gave him the pride-killing thorn to get him there. Maybe God has given you your own thorn to get you to heaven. Heaven requires humility! James 4:6 makes it clear, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” That verse is followed by what appears to be a random thought, “Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

However, God uses Satan as His lackey to produce submission and humility in you. We see this in the life of Paul. In an ironic twist, God allowed a messenger of Satan to help keep Paul humble so that Paul didn’t have to miss out on heaven – the very place where Satan was kicked out of for his pride (Isaiah 14:12-19). That might be hard for us to comprehend that God would allow His arch-enemy to touch His children like He did with Job, Paul and Jesus, but when Satan’s touch actually turns out for our good, it shows that God’s plan is righteous. So the attack of Satan might be the biggest grace advancer in your life if you humbly submit to God.

But what about Satan? How will God use your weakness to display His grace and victory over Satan? According to Isaiah 14:10, some day all the spirits of the dead and the leaders of earth will look down on Satan and say, “Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us.” This teaches us two lessons! The first lesson is that “there is something worse than sickness and that is sin, and the worst sin of all is pride.” [4] The second lesson is that weakness will make you or it will break you depending on whether you are humble or not. If we embrace God in our weakness now, we won’t be weak when judged by God. The power of Christ will dwell in us and we will be perfected by grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). However, if we don’t embrace weakness now, we will be weak, like Satan, when judged by God.

So what is the deciding factor of whether weakness will make or break you? Is it overcoming our weaknesses? No, weakness puts you in the position to experience grace – God’s unmerited favour! This is why today’s message could be summed up in a statement you and I can own. Let’s say it together: MY WEAKNESS SHOWS GOD’S STRENGTH! I think this is why Paul doesn’t go into great detail about what weakness he has, otherwise we would only identify with Paul’s particular weakness. For example, if Paul had autism, then that would be helpful for those on the autism spectrum, but not be helpful for the rest of us. Speculation has abounded down through the centuries about Paul’s specific weakness. In the Middle Ages, it was thought that Paul had struggled with lust since “the flesh” was mentioned and the messenger of Satan would whisper temptations to him.[5] Others have suggested Paul suffered from migraines, epilepsy, fevers, malaria, depression, speech impediments (1 Cor. 2:3-4; 2 Cor. 10:10) or poor eyesight (Galatians 4:15). Some even have speculated it was an annoying person in Paul’s life. Maybe you have somebody who is like a thorn in your side? Do not elbow them right now. Truth be told, we are only guessing what the “thorn” was. What we do know is that the thorn affected Paul’s entire life. If the thorn was a physical irritation or illness, it affected Paul’s mental and spiritual state. I’m sure many of you can relate to how a physical issue can affect your mental and spiritual well-being. What did Paul do? He prayed! In fact, he prayed 3 times for relief. It’s always right to pray for relief from trials and troubles. Jesus even prayed for relief in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was on the cusp of doing what He was sent to earth to do – die on a Cross for our sins. But in a similar to God’s response to Jesus’ prayer, God said no to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s response invokes Paul to make a radical change. He doesn’t just become resigned to the fact that he was going to have to live with this thorn in the flesh. He says in verse 10 that he was “well-content with weaknesses.” That is crazy. Who talks like that? You and I can as well if we view “weaknesses as giving occasion for the display of the power of Christ.”[6] We should put ourselves in the position of weakness – to take the most menial roles and do the most menial tasks. But does this mean we should desire to suffer? No, Paul didn’t desire to suffer. “All the sufferings Paul lists here are passive. He doesn’t seek to suffer.”[7] He just sees strength in a whole new way. He understands this radically important kingdom idea that Warren Wiersbe articulates: “strength that knows itself to be strength is actually weakness, but weakness that knows itself to be a weakness that is only helped by God is actually a strength.”[8] And “Paul saw humiliation (verse 21) as wholesome for him, he accepts it as coming from God’s hand.”[9] But he also recognizes that most would consider him foolish as he states in verse 11.

Now lest you consider that this thinking was something only Paul embraced almost 2000 years ago, there are many Christ-followers around the world who still think this way. Listen to what the typical response is of a Christ-follower in China today. “The security police regularly harass a believer who owns the property where a house-church meets. The police say, ‘You have got to stop these meetings! If you do not stop these meetings, we will confiscate your house, and we will throw you out into the street. Then the property owner will probably respond, ‘Do you want my house? Do you want my farm? Well, if you do, then you need to talk to Jesus because I gave this property to Him.’ The security police will not know what to make of that answer. So they will say, ‘We don’t have any way to get to Jesus, but we can certainly get to you! When we take your property, you and your family will have nowhere to live.’ And the house-church believers will declare, ‘Then we will be free to trust God for shelter as well as for our daily bread.’ If you keep this up, we will beat you!’ the persecutors will tell them. ‘Then we will be free to trust Jesus for healing,’ the believers will respond. ‘And then we will put you in prison!’ the police will threaten. By now, the believers’ response is almost predictable: ‘Then we will be free to preach the good news of Jesus to the captives, to set them free. We will be free to plant churches in prison.’ ‘If you try to do that, we will kill you!’ the frustrated authorities will vow. And, with utter consistency, the house-church believers will reply, ‘Then we will be free to go to heaven and be with Jesus forever.’”[10] Chinese believers are overcoming their “thorns” in the flesh, an oppressive government, by relying on God’s grace and keeping a vision of heaven. We need to do likewise!

I believe God gives us these thorns not only to keep us humble and experience His grace, but also to keep us from becoming complacent. In Paul’s case in verse 11-18, the Corinthians were taking him for granted. He didn’t ask for financial support. He wrote to them more than any other church we are aware of. Yet, like a child often does with a parent, they took for granted the most powerful and fruitful apostle because “they got Paul on the cheap and he wasn’t eloquent.”[11] It is the old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Parents are taken for granted by their children; and sometimes children (especially care-giving adult children) are taken for granted by their parents. Even churches can take for granted their leaders. I have heard of churches getting tired of listening to their outstanding preachers. This is why you don’t just hear my voice all the time, but I share my pulpit. I want to extend my shelf life as your pastor because I foresee us having a long and fruitful ministry together.

Now whether it is some amazing spiritual experience that tempts you to become proud or whether you are tempted to give up in despair over a trial or maybe you have become complacent, it is time to start seeing your weaknesses as opportunities to display God’s grace and power. However, it seems rather risky to boast in your weaknesses, until you remember the first Superman. I am not talking about Nietzsche’s Übermensch. I am talking about the God-man Jesus Christ. He came to earth from the heavens. He came to earth as a helpless baby, grew up in a small backwater community submitting to his parents. And just like Clark Kent, Jesus’ true identity was undetected in the unimpressive disguise of humanity. However, there was a difference between the comic book hero and the Hero of God’s Big Story of the universe. Instead of avoiding his version of kryptonite, Jesus let Himself be weakened. Before, like the comic hero, He was invincible, but then He came to earth and became a weak human being. He was rich but became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9). He was powerful but became weak. He was perfect, yet He became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus demonstrated how weakness becomes ultimate power in the Hands of God when He died on a Cross. Christ’s grace overcame Satan, sin and suffering and it will in our lives too if we will humble ourselves and grow from our weaknesses!

[1] Marcus Buckingham, Go Put Your Strengths to Work (New York: Free Press, 2007).

[2] Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1883). Interestingly, Nietzsche draws upon Zorastrianism. For further study on how Zorastrianism has affected our culture, please read Joe Boot’s article “Babylon Strikes Back: The Syncretistic Motive of Modern Culture” – Jubilee (Summer 2015), 11-22, which traces Zoraster back through the pantheon of gods back to Nimrod in Genesis 10:9-10.

[3] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Übermensch. Accessed August 12, 2015.

[4] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 673.

[5] According to J.B. Lightfoot, Thomas Aquinas was one of the main promoters of this view.

[6] Margaret E. Thrall, International Critical Commentary on 2 Corinthians 8-13 (New York: T & T Clark, 2004), 829.

[7] Scott J. Hafemann, The NIV Application Commentary on 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 473.

[8] Wiersbe, 675.

[9] Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1966), 369.

[10] Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2013), 262-263.

[11] C.K. Barrett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Black’s New Testament Commentary) (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 1993), 485.

What is the Christian Responsibility to Government?

This sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!

What is the Christian responsibility to government, especially during an election? Scripture makes it clear that we should submit to the governing authorities God has placed over us and pay our taxes (Romans 13:1; Mark 12:17). We are to submit to the government as long as they are not asking us to disobey, then we must obey God before them. History shows how some churches in countries capitulated to the government and lost their mission and voice to make disciples. We also not to trust in the government or military to save us (Psalm 20:7)! So should we ignore government and just try to live godly lives? Many, especially in the younger generations, are disillusioned with the Religious Right who has tried to change culture through politics. Voting your person into office has proven not to save the day because there is only one Saviour Jesus Christ and He already came. On the other hand, history warns us of the great danger of ignoring government and not speaking up to the social ills of our culture. Think about how many believers in Germany didn’t join the Confessing Church and speak up against the wickedness that the Nazi’s were advancing. Then there are some who believe in a postmillennial perspective and that this world is getting better. Those that hold to that view see their role as being intrinsically tied to government as they are reigning with Christ and redeeming this world. Tonight I am going to try to answer a few of your specific questions regarding the upcoming elections without endorsing a specific party or candidate.

1. Do Christians have a responsibility to vote? Absolutely! If you have ever lived in another country as I have, you appreciate the great freedom and privilege it is to vote and have your voice heard. Think about how many have suffered and died for your right to vote! My personal opinion is that it is your responsibility to vote, but what does the Bible say? Is voting mandated in Scripture? No, because there was not a democratic form of government in the Bible. The closest we find is casting lots between two nominated leaders in Acts 1:23-26, but that was in the church. Though democracy found its roots in ancient Athens, Greece, it was greatly advanced in the Protestant Reformation by John Calvin who wrote, “Democracy is an invaluable gift, if God allows a people to freely elect its own authorities and overlords.”[1] This explains why democracy is often advanced by the West and is often linked with Christianity. Therefore, I do believe we have the responsibility to involve ourselves with the democratic process. We might be tempted to not involve ourselves with government or the election because we believe in the separation of church and state. However, the separation of church and state is an American belief. Obviously, constitutionally guaranteed and government-funded Catholic schools show we don’t have that doctrine in Canada. Furthermore, the separation of church and state was instituted to avoid the state (England at the time) from persecuting the church. It was never intended to mean that the church couldn’t speak into the government on social issues. That is why the view is not called “the separation of the church from the state.” The relationship between government and religion is one of the major divides between small “l” liberals and small “c” conservatives. “Liberals support the separation of church and state.  They think that the U.S. Bill of Rights implies a separation of church and state and that religious expression has no place in government.  The two should be completely separate, despite the fact that our legal system was based on the natural law system found in the Bible.  However, liberals think that government should not support religious expression in any way.  All reference to God in public and government spaces should be removed (e.g., the Ten Commandments should not be displayed in Federal buildings).  Religious expression has no place in government. On the other hand, conservatives remind us that the phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the U.S. Constitution or in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.  The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This prevents the government from establishing a national church or denomination. However, it does not prohibit God from being acknowledged in schools and government buildings. Some of you remember the time when we read the Bible and said “The Lord’s Prayer” in school to start our day right after the singing of the National Anthem. I do! Many conservatives believe that the symbols of Christian heritage should not be removed from public and government spaces (e.g., the Ten Commandments should continue to be displayed in Federal buildings).  Government should not interfere with religion and religious freedom.”[2] Obviously, liberals are winning on this point and religion is on the margins of society. The separation of church and state has become a chasm as big as the Grand Canyon. Thankfully groups like the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada are doing their best to be a voice of reason in Ottawa.

2. How should we pray for the election? We need to pray that God would give us moral and wise leaders who are not corrupt and allow us the freedom to worship and witness. (1 Timothy 2:1-4) Pray that leaders would courageously vote according to their conscience. Pray that leaders put others before themselves and their political ambitions. Pray that leaders would not be persuaded by lobbyists or corporations to go against what they know to be right and true. Pray that leaders wouldn’t become proud and thus oppose God.

3. Should Christians run for office? We do not find a mandate in Scripture for running for office. However, we do find believers in high places in government, even if they weren’t elected to do so. Think of Joseph who became Egypt’s prime minister (Genesis 41:38-49), Daniel who was repeatedly promoted in government, even to the third highest ruler in the land of Babylon (Daniel 2:46-49; 5:29) and in the New Testament we find there were Christ-followers in Caesar’s household (Phil. 4:22). There are Christians in Parliament and Municipal Government who are motivated to see our country be a peaceful and productive nation. Some pastors such as Baptist Minister Tommy Douglas in the 1960s got involved in politics, eventually becoming premier of Saskatchewan and is actually known as the Father of Medicare in this country. In the U.S., I think about “the years of President Jimmy Carter’s administration andhow Russian Baptist believers were assumed to be spies for the American President whom the whole world knew was a born-again Baptist.”[3] Then there is the recently martyred pastor and state legislator Rev. Clementa Pinckney (the youngest African-American ever to be elected to the South Carolina State of Representatives) who actually spoke out about gun violence and pushed for laws that required policeman to wear body cameras after Walter Scott was shot in the back 8 times by a police officer in North Carolina. Though you and I might not agree with all of Pastor Pinckney’s views, it shows men and women of faith and character are needed in government. As one of our elders Steve Limmer reminded me this week as we continue to see the moral slide in our society that good can overcome evil. Steve gave me hope as he quoted the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22) The Holy Spirit can prevail in our lives!

Nevertheless, I do think it is very challenging to be a Christian politician and government leader these days. The attack will often come against one’s personal beliefs as was shown in 2009 when Cambridge’s own MP Gary Goodyear was questioned about his beliefs on creation and then subsequently criticized for having such views and not advancing evolution as the Minister of Science. His critics thought that personal beliefs should not enter into decision-making.[4] However, scientists also hold to personal beliefs that inform and drive their studies. It is impossible to be objective and the best we can do is not let our bias force others to have to believe as we do. Freedom of religion is one of the beliefs people bled and died for in this country. The attack on politicians of faith is the same way that officials attacked Daniel long ago (Daniel 6). They try to box leaders in on their religious beliefs and practices. We need to pray for such political leaders to hold to their convictions.

4. Here’s the scenario: a Christian is running for office but you believe his party’s policies are not good for the country. His opponent, a non-Christian is running for a party with better policies.  Who gets your vote? Psalm 1:1 declares, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, not sit in the seat of scoffers.” Could this verse not be applied to those sitting in government? 1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good character (morals).’” Therefore, the party that a candidate joins or associates with does say something about their own personal views. If they think that they can be a change agent for good in a misguided party, then we pray that happens. However, there is tremendous pressure for conformity in political parties.

But what happens if a political party shifts in a different direction mid-term than the candidate signed up for? This is one of the benefits of a democracy. Candidates can switch allegiances or become independent to stay true to their convictions and the electorate will decide in the next election if they want that candidate to continue to represent them in government. We do see in the life of Daniel that the Babylonians and then the Medes & Persians did things that he didn’t agree with. He didn’t quit, but he and his friends did not compromise their convictions (Daniel 2). They were prepared to die for their convictions.

The answer to the specific question is whether we should vote for the Christian aligned with harmful policies or vote for the non-Christian that is aligned with a party whose policies will be less harmful. I think we should not vote based on whether a person is a Christian or not, but what their specific views and plans are for the country. In my travels around the world, I have learned that being a Christian simply means that one believes that Jesus died and rose for their sins. However, there is much difference of opinions amongst Christians as to their social and political views. What is sad to me is to call into question a person’s salvation based on their political views. You don’t get to go to heaven if you vote Conservative, Liberal or NDP in Canada or Republican or Democrat in the U.S. You have eternal life because you are trusting in Christ as your Saviour and ultimately Jesus as your Lord and Leader.

5. Does the Bible teach socialism or capitalism? The Bible teaches both socialism and capitalism without making either the driving philosophy or worldview of our lives. Examples of socialism would be leaving grain for the poor to harvest (Leviticus 23:22), paying for the healthcare of the less fortunate as seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) and the Early Church caring for each other (Acts 4:32, 34-35). An example of capitalism is the Proverbs 31 woman. She works hard and earns a profit on her capitalistic ventures (Proverbs 31:15-19, 24) but she also gives to the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:20) while taking care of her own family (Proverbs. 31:21). She is compassionately capitalistic! I think this is important because the economy continues to be the number one concern in elections. No wonder because money is our society’s god. My question to you personally as a Christian and as a citizen of Canada, how can we call people to let money not be our master, but our servant for doing good?

Let’s end the night praying for the upcoming election and for our present officials at all levels of government!

Heavenly Father, we give thanks for our government (1 Tim. 2:1). We pray for all men and women having authority over us in any way. (1 Tim 2:2) Pour out Your Spirit upon them and make Your Word known to them (Prov. 1:23). Cause them to be men and women of integrity, obedient concerning us (Ps 25:21) that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty (1 Tim 2:2). Let wisdom enter their hearts, and let knowledge be pleasant to them (Prov. 2:10). Let discretion preserve them and understanding keep them (Prov. 2:11), to deliver them from the way of evil and from evil men (Prov. 2:12). Make their hearts and ears attentive to godly counsel (Psalm 1:1), doing what is right in your sight (2 Chron. 20:32). Let the upright dwell in our government (Prov. 2:21). Let those complete and blameless before You stay and cut off the wicked (Prov. 2:21-22). Let the unfaithful be rooted out. Bring to light what is hidden in darkness, and expose the secret aims of the hearts (1 Cor. 4:5). Let this nation remember from where they have fallen, repenting, and returning to doing their first works, setting their hearts and their souls to seek the Lord (1 Chron. 22:19), humbling themselves, praying, and turning from their wicked ways. Then hear them, O Lord, and forgive their sins and heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14). Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light (Acts 26:18). Soften the hearts that are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). Deliver them from their destructions (Ps. 107:20). Father, You have been longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Raise up a holy standard in this nation (Is. 49:22). Cause the rains of Your Spirit to flood this land (Zechariah 10:1) and revive Your work in the midst of us (Habakkuk 3:2). Raise up intercessors for this nation (Is. 59:16) to pull down strongholds over this land (2 Cor. 10:4). And let the glory of the Lord be revealed! (Is. 40:5)[5]

[1] Quoted in Jan Weerda, Calvin, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage (1958), Stuttgart (Germany), col. 210.

[2] Source: http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/. Accessed August 4, 2015.

[3] Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2013), 150.

[4] Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/science-minister-s-coyness-on-evolution-worries-researchers-1.800906. Accessed August 4, 2015.

[5] Adapted from http://www.prayingscriptures.com/government.shtml. Accessed August 5, 2015.

How Do You Win the Battle for Your Mind?

This sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!

Finish the statement, “All’s fair in love and ________!” “All’s fair in love and war!” Is that true? Any jilted lover knows the first part isn’t true! Some of you have the achey, breaky heart to prove it. What about all being fair in war? Was it fair to see the innocent slaughtered between the clans warring in Somalia in the 1990s? In the book The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken we discover how dark that country had become. The author tells how his mission organization “delivered a truck of food and basic health-care supplies to a small, shabby, war-ravaged village. Several days after they had been there, a neighboring clan attacked and overran the poor village that they had fed. After cursing and vilifying the poor villagers for having the audacity to accept their relief aid before those who ‘deserved it more’ had received their share, the invaders stole what was left. Before leaving, the attackers abused the women and girls of the village and then tortured the helpless and humiliated men. The villagers then decided to warn other nearby villages, ‘You better not take any food from the missionaries. They will get you killed!”[1] How wicked! Certainly, none of us would say “all’s fair in love and war.”

The war atrocities we hear, read about or see on the news might seem distant, but what about the war you went through this week? I am not just talking about the battles you faced with your boss, your kids or parents or with your spouse. Those are awful and some of you still have wounds that need to be healed from those battles. Today, you can find the soothing balm that only Jesus provides when you remember His grace and love for you on the Cross.

Despite the fact those interpersonal battles are hard, what I want to emphasize today is a greater battle – the battle for your mind. Most of the battles in your family or even between countries have their genesis in our minds, which affects our emotions and then flows into our behaviour. I am wondering if any of us this week jumped to a conclusion because auto-correct changed the entire meaning of what we were trying to say in a text. Maybe your mind races ahead of you and assumes the worst! Or somebody was offended and because they were powerful and the tiff escalated to a full-blown war affecting millions of people. World War I began over an offence. “Franz Ferdinand, the archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated. His death at the hands of Gavrilo Princip – a Serbian nationalist with ties to the secretive military group known as the Black Hand – propelled the major European military powers towards war, which ended up killing more than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians in four bloody years of war.”[2] Cooler heads should have prevailed but one man’s death led to millions more.

In contrast, Jesus’ death led to the salvation of millions and it is He who now gives us the ability to win the battle in our minds. You probably don’t realize how your thoughts and emotions wage war on you and affect others. Even trying to hold your thoughts and emotions in check is a defensive tactic. You decide to lead with your head and not to show any emotion in a situation when maybe you should have been grieved or angry about a wrong. On the other hand, you can get all emotional, blubbering your disappointment all over the place. I did that yesterday trying to get to the Blue Jays game while fighting Caribana traffic. You see the battle for the mind all the time in marriages, when one spouse gets overly emotional and the other one shuts down emotionally. Tears no longer move them to compassion. Do you see how one of the greatest battles you will face in life is the battle for your mind? The self-talk, the lies we believe, and the conclusions we jump to create a massive war for our mind. How do you win the battle for your mind? The battle for your mind is won by adopting the meekness of Jesus Christ and giving Him credit for the victory! We discover how to win the battle for our mind from 2 Corinthians 10. Let’s read 2 Corinthians 10! Read 2 Corinthians 10!

There are usually two attacks on your mind and they often come in the form of two questions. These are questions that you and I often ask ourselves. I believe these questions are planted in our minds by the kingdom of darkness. They are two questions that attack your mind: 1) What do others think of me? 2) Am I better than others?

2 Corinthians 10 deals with those two questions through the lens of Christ and His grace. Verses 1-11 deals with the opinion question and verse 12-18 deals with the comparison question. The background is that the Corinthians were complaining that they thought Paul was too tough in his letters and too soft in person. Verses 9-10 makes this very clear, “For I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.’” Paul transcends this thinking and does not worry about what others think of him while at the same time not being cavalier about it. He starts in verse 1, “Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ – I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent.” Paul was not playing a game here like some slick politician – buttering people up in person and then delivering the hard truth in a letter. Instead, Paul is meek. I have always loved the definition of meekness I heard many years ago, “Meekness isn’t weakness; it is power under control.” Paul could have used his power and authority as an apostle, but he makes clear in verse 8 his authority comes from the Lord for “building you up and not destroying you.”

Some hold to a similar philosophy to the Marines who use boot camp to tear people down so they can build them back up in their own image. This is a worldly tactic. In contrast, Paul employs meekness to let the Corinthians know of his care and concern for them; that they do not need to be afraid of him or his letters. When you understand who you belong to and only care about Christ’s opinion of you, then you can appropriately respond to people both in person and in writing. No more face to face conversations where you hold back from telling others the truth and then later on blast them in an email or text. You can truly love them because you see them through the lens of grace. You know that because Jesus has already taken care of your identity issues – you are a child of God – you can speak the truth in love to people both in verbal and written forms. This is why you overcome the attack of worrying about other’s opinion by the truth of God’s Word.

And this is how Paul could adjust his approach in different situations. Scott Hafeman explains, “It is true that Paul had been ‘timid’ when he was attacked during his second visit to Corinth, but ‘bold’ when he subsequently wrote his ‘severe’ or ‘tearful letter. His opponents criticized him for this apparent contradiction because they did not understand the role of warnings, mixed with mercy, in the life of faith. For ironically, in confronting one last time those who are still in rebellion against him, Paul is actually attempting to avoid the very kind of consistency that his opponents apparently desire.”[3]  And this is why when people oppose you; your response should be a gentle answer. “A gentle answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1) And this is what God has done. In our rebellion, He didn’t retaliate with the full force of His wrath. For who could stand that! He didn’t need to show who’s the boss. Instead, he showed kindness, which led to our repentance (Romans 2:4).  God used grace when faced off against our rebellion. He loved us while we were yet His enemies!

Doesn’t this truth help us as parents when we encounter rebellion in our children? Doesn’t this truth help us when people are rude to us or slander us? Doesn’t this truth help us when people criticize us?

Meekness is one of our spiritual weapons Paul is talking about in verse 3-6. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (or strongholds).” Meekness conquers! Jesus taught us that in his famous sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:5 KJV) Meekness conquers and the best part is that meekness is pure and not driven by selfish ambition. Meekness conquers and doesn’t allow pride to conquer you.

Meekness even conquers our enemies. A good example of how meekness wins one’s enemy is seen in the life of Abraham Lincoln. “One of President Abraham Lincoln’s greatest opponents was Edward Stanton. Stanton often made his attacks on Lincoln very personal, even calling Lincoln a gorilla. Do you know what Lincoln did? After Lincoln became President, he made Stanton his Secretary of War because of Stanton’s keen mind.”[4] Can you imagine one of the Canadian Federal Party Leaders asking his opponents to join his cabinet after the election this fall? Lincoln was meek and was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known! Maybe one of the things that is causing you and I to lose out in life is that we are not winning our enemies over with meekness?

How do you get such meekness? Not by steeling yourself and showing no emotion. Instead, we now can display power under control when we let go of power and are instead controlled by the Holy Spirit. We then become powerful when we know who we are in Christ and that our identity in Him can never be taken away. The world was amazed at how Martin Luther King Jr. followed in the path of His Saviour Jesus Christ, who when slapped by angry men, didn’t strike back. As Warren Wiersbe says, “It takes more power to wait than to strike.”[5] Meekness outlasted the weakness of anger, rage, racism and bigotry. Meekness can outlast and conquer your difficult boss or landlord or neighbour. Meekness wins! It wins the person and not just the argument. Beloved, let’s fight with meekness. It is one of our major weapons! It was one of Christ’s major weapons to win you and me!

So if meekness fights the constant questioning of what others will think of you, boasting about Christ will fight the constant questioning of whether you are better (or worse) than others. Meekness overcomes other’s opinion, while boasting about God overcomes comparison. Verse 12 in the NKJV shows the faulty thinking of comparison, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” In other words, we are our own worst measuring stick! We measure against those who are better or prettier and this causes us to despair. We measure against those who are worse or uglier and this causes us to become proud. However, if we use the weapon of truth, we can take such thoughts captive. Comparing yourself to people’s opinion raises up against the knowledge of God. Only God knows what is true about you. He is the Judge! Only His opinion matters! This is why verse 5 tells us, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” These thoughts are not just against the philosophies of the world. Nor are the thoughts just against lust, greed, covetousness or other sins in our mind. That is how I used to think that verse could be applied. No, the context of these verses before and after emphasize Paul’s attitude of meekness and his aim to boast only in the Lord for His work in Paul’s life. Meekness and boasting in God are the weapons we fight with when criticized. Verse 13 makes this clear, “But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.” As well as verses 17-18, “But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.”

This is actually how God’s greatest victories have always occurred. Do you remember in 1 Samuel 24 when King Saul was chasing David and went into a cave to relieve himself not knowing that David was hiding in that cave? Instead, David only cut off a corner of Saul’s robe as proof of his ability to spare Saul’s life. David demonstrated meekness and boasting in the Lord when he said to Saul, “Behold this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you and I said, “I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’” (1 Samuel 24:10) Do we have such eyes of compassion for our enemies that we can treat them with meekness? Can we boast that God has given us our enemies to destroy but we won’t? Sadly, we don’t. We strike back. How our lives and relationships would change if we didn’t strike back.

And this is why we must remember that Jesus didn’t strike back. He decided to boast in God and give Him glory through His meekness and this is why you only become meek through Christ’s grace and this grace causes you to boast in what the Lord has done for you. You gain a whole new mindset and it causes you to sing, ‘Our God is greater, our God is stronger, O God, You are higher than any other.” Let’s do that now and the battle for our mind will be won!

[1] Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2013), 62.

[2] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I. Accessed July 31, 2015.

[3] Scott J. Hafemann, The NIV Application Commentary on 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 393.

[4] Source: http://francolim.blogspot.ca/2006/10/face-of-meekness_20.html. Accessed August 1, 2015.

[5] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 666.