The Faithful Watchman

Ezekiel 3:17-19
(17) "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
(18) If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
(19) But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

This is the beginning of a longer passage where God gives instruction to Ezekiel. He explains what Ezekiel is to do with both wicked and righteous people. Basically, it is Ezekiel's job to deliver the mail.

Our job is no different. We are to deliver the gospel to people. We cannot make them believe. In fact, there is nothing in this passage where God demands persuasiveness from Ezekiel. He simply wants Ezekiel to be faithful in delivering His message. Those who hear the message need to do business with the Lord.

It would seem to me that this has clear application for the Christian today. It is certainly true for those who are called to teach and preach, but I believe it is generally true for those who have repented and believed in Christ. I don't think that God will demand blood from us if we do not share the gospel because that demand has been satisfied at the cross. However, I do believe that we are to be as faithful as Ezekiel was.

I know that this is something I am not great at. I'm OK, but anyone who is consistently faithful must also have a proclivity for hot tubs because he is going to spend a lot of time in hot water. There is certainly a tension here.

Security in Preaching

Jeremiah 1:17-19
(17) But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
(18) And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
(19) They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

Young Jeremiah had a very difficult task ahead of him. He had to preach judgment on a self-satisfied and self-righteous people. In this passage God gives Him reassurance that He would protect Jeremiah through it all.

What I note from this is that there is no promise of ease or comfort. In fact, in verse 19 He assures Jeremiah that there would be a fight. Yet He also promises that Jeremiah would prevail in the end. I think of fortified cities, iron pillars, and bronze walls. I think the point of this imagery is that they can take a licking and keep on ticking. They do nothing to prevent the attacks, but they can withstand them.

I am reminded of this verse:

Ephesians 6:13
(13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

If you are a Christian then you are called to preach at some level. If you never share the gospel then you have to wonder if you're really a Christian. They will know us by our love, right? Well, if people are on the road to eternal damnation then we had better be willing to tell them how to get off that road. The problem is that we will likely suffer to some degree if we are faithful in that calling.

This is not easy for me. I don't know where the line is between sharing the truth in love and turning people off to the gospel. All I know is that I am called to share it. I don't want to be a stumbling block for anyone, but I also don't want my inaction to be the reason someone never heard the gospel clearly articulated either.

Have You Been Healed?

Mark 1:40-45 ESV
(40) And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."
(41) Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean."
(42) And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
(43) And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once,
(44) and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them."
(45) But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

There are a couple of things about this passage that really strike me. One is that Jesus was willing to touch a leper. Spend some time in the Pentateuch and you will see that Jews took leprosy very, very seriously. By doing this Jesus made Himself ceremonially unclean, yet He still reached out and touched this man. I know that He did the same thing with me, and unclean sinner.

Note verse 45. Jesus had "sternly charged" him in verse 43 not to speak to anyone about what happened. Yet this man could not help but talk to people.

Meanwhile, we have the Great Commission to go and speak to people about Jesus. Yet it is a struggle for us to do so. What does this say about us? Do we really believe that we have been healed of anything? Do we really believe that a miracle has taken place in our lives?

Coming out of the Cage

I would say that I've aligned myself with reformed theology for about 4 years now. In other words, it roughly coincides with my time at Setting Captives Free. What does that mean? It means that I embrace the 5 solas of the Reformation, for example. It also means that I embrace the Doctrines of Grace or "TULIP" if you like acronyms. The good news is that it is considered hip in some circles to be young and reformed thanks to the internet. We used to have to sit quietly while we listened to preaching about God's sovereignty in one breath, but then about how God has nothing to do with a Katrina or a 9/11. There are ways to reconcile these things in the context of a good God, but I won't get into that here. Go here if you're interested in reading a great treatment of this from a Biblical mindset.

Few people really embrace the Doctrines of Grace when they first become believers. After all, chances are that they didn't hear anything about them when they were evangelized. They probably heard something like the 4 Spiritual Laws, which I think fail a little bit because they are man-centered rather than God-centered. We come to Christ patting ourselves on the back for being smart enough to purchase some eternal fire insurance. Or we hope that we can find out what God's plan is for our life so that we can escape the misery we find ourselves in.

However, if we spend some time in Scripture we often find that the focus changes. This is especially true if we read any of the Puritans or someone like John Piper. We begin to see that at least the first sentence of The Purpose-Driven Life is accurate -- it's not about us. It's about God and His glory. Then we come across a passage like Ephesians 1 and our prideful socks get knocked off. As we continually reread the Bible we begin to see God's glory in places like Psalm 23 where we see that He guides us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. We begin to realize that it's all about God's sovereign plan. We hopefully guard ourselves against hyper-Calvinism and as we gain knowledge we become excited about sharing what we've learned.

The problem is that we often turn into obnoxious heretic-hunters. I can remember listening to messages at my church straining to hear any traces of what I would consider wrong teaching. Of course, we are to be like the Berean church that tested everything according to the Scriptures. I rejoice that my pastor encourages us to do so. However, I'm finding that life is better since I learned to relax a little bit. I know a person in Atlanta who used to be a good friend. Unfortunately, I alienated him with my doctrine, though I was trying to help him and share the gospel with him. His wife grew up in a Methodist church. Since he grew up in a Mormon church and hates religion, I figure that the best chance he has for hearing the gospel is to attend that Methodist church. I had to come to the conclusion that, despite my zeal for the Doctrines of Grace, I'd rather he attend a Methodist church than no church at all, assuming that there is some presentation of the gospel there.

In other words, I think I'm ready to be let out of my cage. I'd appreciate any feedback from those of you who interact with me regularly. How obnoxious am I about my faith? Do you know what I believe? If you disagree with me I hope that you are at least challenged by my convictions. If you choose to disagree that is between you and God. I want to share the truth in a loving way and not get in the way of the gospel being presented.

I also hope that anyone reading this from a Reformed perspective will consider whether or not they need to be kept in a cage for a while. Don't feel badly if you do -- most of us go through this and it becomes something over which we must repent.

What's the Point?

I've meant to write about a conversation I had with Bob a couple of weeks ago. Bob is a devout Lutheran and a good guy. He works hard and doesn't slack off nearly as much as some of us. His life is a settled routine and he likes it that way. He does the same lifting workout every time he lifts. He doesn't vary the weight or the reps, but he's OK with that. He's built like a little fireplug and I wouldn't want to tangle with him.

I stopped into his cube one day after my lunchtime nap for a quick chat. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but he told me about a conflict he had in a bible study one time about salvation. Someone in his study got quite upset when Bob proposed his idea that good, devout people from any religion are saved. I tried to handle this graciously and point out the logical conclusion to this line of thinking.

I said, "Bob, if you want to believe that, that's up to you. You do realize that is not at all supported by the Bible, right?"

He was OK with that.

Then I said, "You realize that, if what you believe is true, then the 911 hijackers must be in heaven."

He seemed a bit confused, so I expounded on that point. I explained that they were extremely devout in their faith and did what they believed to be right. He saw my point, but I'm not sure if it changed his thinking at all. I need to follow-up with him.

This also makes me think of the death and resurrection of Jesus. If we believe in the resurrection (which is hard to deny) then we have to see that as a strong argument for the exclusivity of Christianity. To believe otherwise would be to make God the worst child-abuser in history. Why bother sending Christ to die if it wasn't necessary for salvation?

I don't think we can put Jesus in a test tube and prove His existence or validity, but we can sure present a lot of evidence to get someone thinking. In the end I need to trust that the Holy Spirit has the job of conversion. That helps me to sleep better at night.

Cross Purposes

Tuesday's battles in cyberspace were interesting for me. It's one of the few times that I participated in discussions at blogs of people I don't know. It really opened up my eyes to what is going on out there. I guess it shouldn't be any big surprise at how much pain is out there in the world. After all, that's what Jesus came for. John 4 makes it clear that the woman at the well was chasing something that she found when she met Jesus.

But what is my proper response to some of this pain? I read a blog about someone who associates Christmas with being trapped in a burning apartment and spending the holidays in the burn unit of a hospital. First, I just want to hug this person and tell her that things can be OK. I guess it's good that she likes her therapist and that the anxiety meds are helping. But they're just band-aids on the deeper problem. How bold should I be in sharing the gospel? I'm afraid that it will come off as saying, "It's great that you feel better, but it's all a sham."

I just don't know where the line is between graciousness and boldly sharing the truth, so I wimp out. As I write this it makes me even sadder. This is something I'm going to have to spend some time ruminating upon.

Missing the Sunshine

This is the first time in 8 years that I miss living in Florida. That includes the time we had the bad ice storm here in Raleigh. The reason is because for the first time in history my alma mater will play against the University of Florida. After listening to Gator fans for 3 years I would love to be there for this as I've got to think that OSU will roll over them. But, people thought the same thing about Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.

I suppose it must be just as hard for people who move to Ohio, and central Ohio in particular. OSU fans can be extremely obnoxious. What we call "rich tradition" others may call obsessive behavior. What we call "passion" others may call obnoxious. But I guess that's what sports can be all about. It seems like something you don't want to do halfway.

Again, I am reminded of how much worship goes into sports. Where's the face painting for church on Sundays? Where are the tailgate parties? Where is the passion to talk about it with others?

Where is the Passion?

I had a problem coming up with suitable birthday and Christmas gifts this year. It's easy to ask for video games, but I realize that I don't have much time for them and when I do make the time for them I feel like playing them wasted my time. That is of course, unless I have Lily interested in the game in which case we're actually bonding. At any rate, because of my dearth of options I decided that it would be fun to get an electric guitar.

I've played guitar in various forms and ability for almost 3 years now. In fact, this birthday will mark the third anniversary of the receipt of my steel string. I've got to the point when I can strum some chords, change them smoothly, and sing along (though it hasn't helped my singing). I can pluck out a couple of pieces on my classical and continue working on that. Through this all I've kind of kept my eyes on getting an electric, but knew that the cost was prohibitive to the point where it had to be a gift.

Unlike some guitarists, I really am not that into guitars. Maybe it's just been a matter of time, but I'm just now to the point where I can hear a difference between a good guitar and my cheap guitars. I do know that my classical is very cheap because the nut pinches when I tune it. So I've come to the conclusion that if I'm going to get an electric perhaps I should get a better one than my classical.

I have a couple of coworkers who play guitar and to whom I go for advice. One is a guy named Al who owns about 7 guitars and, I'm told, can really shred. I've had some long conversations with him and he has given me some great insights. I now know some things to look for in a guitar so that I can test them more intelligently than just strumming an open G and hearing how it sounds. I've found that he will happily speak at great length about the qualities of a good guitar. I can also see the excitement that he has for someone who is getting deeper into the hobby he loves so much.

It makes me wonder about how much passion we self-proclaimed Christians really have for Jesus. Do we get excited when spiritual topics come up in conversation? Will we drop everything to have a discussion with someone about spiritual things? Do we spend time reading what people have to say about various topics regarding Jesus (i.e. different teachings, apologetic methods, etc)? Just how passionate are we?

I feel like I do pretty well with this, but I would hope that my passion for sharing about my Lord and Savior would surpass anyone's passion for sharing about a musical instrument. I'm all for hobbies and have spent much time talking about sports and other things. But I do hope that Jesus has a primary place in my passion.