God is Saying Something

Most of us have thought at some point in our lives that we wish God would just say something. We wish that He would just tell us what He wants. We wish He would give us a word. So we rack our brains and try to come up with an "inspired idea" that will give us some direction in our lives or in the life of our church. But "we don't have to work to come up with a word from God; we simply have to trust the Word He has already given us. When we do, the Word of God will accomplish the work of God among the people of God." We have to remember that our life and leadership in the church is not dependent on our experience or intelligence. It is dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit and our trust in the truth of God's word. We cannot save the church in our own power, it was never our job to do so. Instead we need to pray this prayer, "Lord, let me make a difference for You that is utterly disproportionate to who I am."

In many of our lives and in many of our churches, we rely on human words of wisdom to set our direction. When mere humans set the course, we won't get anywhere. "When we unchain the power of God's Word in the church, it will unleash the potential of God's people in the world." So God's word must be central in our lives and in our church if we want to make His glory known to the world.

We need to understand that "God has given us everything we need in the Word we have" and we need to stop looking everywhere else for answers! I am aware God didn't address a time limit for how long you should watch tv or play computer games in the Bible. I am also aware that He didn't specify how much you should be setting aside for your 401k. The purpose of the Bible was not give us specific guidelines on how to live our lives in the 21st Century United States. "The purpose of God's word is to transform people in every country and every century into the image of Jesus. The Bible is sufficient to accomplish this task, and God knows this is what people need most." When our lives look like Christ's, the rest will fall into place.

"The Bible is in our hands to transform people into the image of Christ and to get people in touch with the Holy Spirit of God, who will not only give them counsel for every situation they face but will also walk with them through those situations." That should take the pressure off of us as followers of Christ. We don't have to have all the answers!

Everything we do in our lives and in our church we should do for the glory of God. But we must understand something: just because we do it for His glory doesn't mean that He will bless it. That doesn't mean that He won't, but we can't be offended if He does not. "There is only one thing God has promised to bless, and that is His plan. He has given us His plan in His word, and if we want the blessing of God, then we don't need to come up with something else. Instead, we need to align with the plan He has already promised to bless." The question we must ask before we begin a task is this: "Is this the BEST way to align with the plan Jesus has laid before us?"

If what we are doing does align with His plan, we can rest assured that He will bless it. That being said, "the blessing of God does not mean acceptance by the world." It also doesn't mean instant success and sweeping revival in our churches. "The challenge for church members and leaders alike is to faithfully hold fast to God's Word, trusting that ultimately God will use it to accomplish His intended, eternal, global purpose."

The Bible is perfect and all sufficient. "You and I can trust this Word. It forms and fulfills, motivates and mobilizes, equips and empowers, leads and directs the people of God in the church for the plan of God in the world. This won't automatically make everything easy in the church. But as long as Christians together are prayerfully and humbly asking what the plan of God is in His word for His people and are abandoning our lives to it, we will be unleashing a radical people."

Enjoy the Journey

The Gospel Misunderstood

Some people think that work has everything to do with salvation, others think it has nothing to do with it. "Both are confused. Both are wrong. And until they get a right understanding of the gospel, they will never be a part of accomplishing the purpose of God." Some are prone to think, "I need to do more for God. I need to sell this possession and make this pledge in order to be right before God. Guilt will motivate their obedience, and action will be their obligation." If this is you, please hear this: You will never be radical enough. There is nothing you can DO to be accepted by God, and that is the good news of the gospel, it doesn't matter. Because God loves us so much, He sent Jesus to live a perfect life and give that life for us so that we can be made right with God. "The starting point of your radical life is your radical death-death to yourself and death to your every attempt to do enough before God."

I believe that with all my heart. My problem comes when so many of us use that as an excuse to not live out the faith we claim to have in Jesus. Scripture says that faith without works is dead. But I think we need to take a minute and figure out what 'works' we are talking about here. Over and over again throughout the scripture people are condemned for trying to earn their salvation through works. This is not what we are talking about, and that is not what James is talking about in his book of the Bible either. He (and we) are talking about "actions fueled by faith that bring great glory to God. Things such as "love for the needy, mercy for the poor, and care for the suffering that flow from faith in Christ." The truth of the matter is that "so-called faith without acts prompted by faith is a farce. Real faith always creates fruit."

The difference between the two kinds of works is that one is fueled by flesh in an attempt to earn a good standing with God, while the other is fueled by faith in order to bring glory to God. We should want to bring glory to God at every opportunity, after all He saved us even though there was nothing we could do to earn it! Therefore we do not work for God out of a sense of guilt, we have been declared not guilty before Him! We work for God out of a sense of gratitude and love. "We live sacrificially, not because we feel guilty, but because we have been loved greatly and now find satisfaction in sacrificial love for others. We live radically, not because we have to, but because we want to."

So we must avoid becoming a church of people who are constantly trying to earn their salvation through works motivated by guilt. We must also avoid becoming a church of people who defend the gospel but don't demonstrate it.

Enjoy the Journey

Tyranny of the Good (from Radical Together by David Platt)

"I spend so much time in church doing good church things that I don't have time to spread the gospel?" Can you relate? When I say good church things I'm not being sarcastic at all. We can easily fill up our schedules with things that are good in and of themselves. The problem arises when we realize that we don't have time to do what we are called to do (bring people to Jesus) because we are spending too much time at picnics, worship team rehearsals, and youth group parties! Are any of those things bad? I certainly hope not! But "the last thing you and I want to do is waste our lives on religious activity that is devoid of spiritual productivity-being active in the church but not advancing the kingdom of God." That is why as David Platt says in his book 'Radical Together,' "one of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in church." We can very easily trick ourselves into thinking that just because we are in the church building we are advancing the kingdom of God. However dedication to church programs does not equal devotion to God's kingdom.

That is why we have to take a good long look at our lives and answer this question: "Am I willing to put everything that I am doing on the table and figure out if these are the best ways I can use my life for God?" Are you willing to say to God, "I will do whatever You want, I will drop whatever You command, I will eliminate whatever is not best, and I will add whatever is necessary in order to make your glory known in the world around me, no matter what it costs me?" This is a hard process. It is hard because we can justify anything. I am really good at it. Knowing this, we have to avoid questions like, 'what is wrong with doing this?' We have to avoid this question because we've already established that the things we are doing in and of themselves are good things! The question we must ask is "Are these programs and activities the best way to spend our time, money, and energy for the spread of the gospel in our neighborhood and in all nations?"

I know this is hard. It is hard because it will require us to take an honest look at our lives and make some changes that we don't really want to make. Changes that will impact our lifestyle. The things that we are involved in (for the most part) are good things! They may even be things that we have been doing for many years now. That is why it is hard to let go of them. But if we are honest, we know that "if we want to unleash the people of God in the church for the glory of God in the world, we need to let go of some good things." God is calling us to what is best so that people can come to know Him. Are you ready to let go?

Enjoy the Journey