The Foolishness Of The Gospel...

I’ve noticed that with advent of social media, and better yet, the addition of comment sections at the bottom of every Internet article, there seems to be more discussion (or argument) between believers and non-believers these days. My purpose now is not to address the utter foolishness of some believers who almost hatefully engage in these arguments with unbelievers, as if God needed them to come to His rescue – I’ll save that for another time. My purpose is to point out the foolishness of the Gospel itself.

*** Insert chirping crickets here ***

Now, one thing that both believers and unbelievers can agree on is that most unbelievers think that the belief system of Christians is foolishness. There are some very pleasant unbelievers who would never state it that way, but in reality, they think what we believe is absurd. This, by the way, is totally in keeping with what Scripture teaches:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

The truth is that at one time that message was also foolishness to those of us who are being saved. At some point we were illuminated and given the Spirit to understand the foolishness for what it really is.

Think of it like this:

I know how and when to blow my nose. It comes in handy. I have been trying to teach this amazing technique to my little boys. I don’t do it to make them laugh and giggle and roll around on the floor and mock me – I do it because I know it’s for their own good. I blow my nose for them in all seriousness in order to demonstrate how it is done. But they don’t see it that way. They just see foolishness. At this point in their lives, they are not able to see the wisdom in blowing their own noses, so they don’t explore it. They just laugh because they think daddy is being foolish. And so I stand there, looking at them with their runny noses, listening to them struggling to breath, wishing I could just make them understand – It’s really not foolishness once you get it.

Neither is the message of the cross.

So you believers: just as me arguing with my boys will not help them learn nose-blowing, neither will you arguing with unbelievers somehow magically convert them (as if that were really what you wanted, and not just to prove you were right). Have compassion and patience. I will return to this some other time.

And you unbelievers: just as my boys think that me blowing my nose is foolishness, you think the  Gospel message is – but I bet you eventually embraced the wisdom of blowing your own nose. That's hypocritical. Face the fact that you do not know everything. If you claim to be open-minded, then open your mind – and don’t be so quick to disregard foolishness as if you knew better.

Prepare To Be Mooned

There are some things that just intrigue everyone:

Trains, sharks, donuts, and the Moon . . . especially the Moon.

Honestly, have you ever heard anyone say, “I just really can’t stand that Moon up there”?

No you haven’t. And if you have, I’ll give you a refund.

Since the beginning of Creation, people have looked up at the Moon in wonder. It’s really easy to understand why too – it lights up the night sky. It’s because when we are experiencing the night, the Moon doesn’t escape the Sun’s light:

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible –

and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. (Ephesians 5)

This is true in the natural realm. Think about the Moon again. In not-so-scientific terms, it’s a big ole dead, dusty, dark, round rock. Sometimes it’s completely darkened and then it gets all lit up again. We call that a full Moon. What was darkened becomes exposed by the light of the Sun and clearly visible – illuminated. It becomes a light in even darkest night the sky.

All people start out like the darkened (New) Moon, receiving no light, reflecting no light.

This is why it is said:

“Wake up sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

The same thing happens to those who receive Him. They become illuminated by Christ. They are like the Moon when it is full of light.

Jesus Christ illuminates us much like the Sun illuminates the Moon:

Like the Sun, Jesus is the true light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind . . . to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1)

Honestly, I can only take this little allegory so far. But we all have to admit that no one ever gazes up in amazement at the darkened Moon. But when the Moon is fully illuminated, it is everything it is supposed to be in all its glory.

When Christ shines on you, and illuminates you, then you will be full.

And oddly enough, the next full Moon is on Valentine's Day.



***Thanks to David Phillips @johnnykidron for faithfully delivering an inspiring Good Word from the Lord and Chris Bloom @LChrisBloom for the title of the post. Honored to know and serve alongside these brothers. Follow these guys on Twitter.

WWJD?

Do you remember that popular Evangelical catch phrase from the 90’s? I do. I never liked it – then, because I was busy acting like a heathen, and now, because anyone who has even read just a few pages of the gospels knows that the disciples blew it every time they tried to predict WJWD.

Well, I guess there’s one thing that we can be Scripturally certain that Jesus would do if he were still walking the earth today. He would be making disciples.

GO… Make Disciples… That is what Jesus said, that is what Jesus did, that is what Jesus passed on, and that is most certainly what Jesus would ‘be for’ if he were still physically present with us. We know for a fact that he is still for that because he lives, and so does his command to his disciples to GO and Make Disciples.

Jesus didn’t merely suggest that his followers preach repentance, evangelize the lost, or teach clever lessons… His earthy ministry surely wasn’t limited to just making pleasant choices in a social context either. He expected much more. He expected us to pour our very lives into a new generation of disciples just as he poured his very life into the Twelve.

The Church in America today is practically clueless when it comes to Scriptural, Jesus-commanded discipleship. I admit that I certainly don’t know it all, but it is because generations before me quit making disciples the way Jesus did it. People love to say what wrong with this country… there’s your problem right there. We need to re-discover true, biblical, Jesus-commanded, apostle-obeyed, early church-experienced discipleship.

Whatever Happened to Jesus’ Church?

Jerusalem's Golden Gate.

…on this rock I will build my church, 

and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Matthew 16:18

Jesus said he would build his church, and that the gates of Hades would not overcome it. What does that mean? Maybe a better question is this: Is the church today the anything like the one that Jesus describes here?

First, let’s table the discussion about the identity of ‘this rock’ for the time being. Suffice to say that the rock that Jesus spoke of was the revelation of himself as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” The rock that Jesus’ church is built on is none other than the gospel. “It is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes,” because “in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed” (Romans 1:16-17).

So, Jesus’ church is built on a message. Hmmm. Is the church today built on that message, or is it built on more than that? Think very carefully about that for a moment...

Well, apparently the gates of Hades are no match for this church Jesus builds. In the time Jesus lived, Hades was clearly understood as the unseen realm of the dead. The living had a natural fear of this realm of the dead, which no man knew anything about. So, Jesus likened it to a fortified city that his contemporaries would have been familiar with. These fortified cities had massive defensive walls, and some cities even had a double wall. These walls could be up to 20 feet thick. You might think that would make the city gate the weak point, but think again. The doors were immense, designed to withstand battering rams. Some cities even had a double set of gates so that if the attacker broke through, they were hemmed up at the second gate and slaughtered. In sum, conquering a fortified city meant the attacking force must display a fierce and resolute commitment to vanquish his enemy, notwithstanding heavy casualties.

Artist's reconstruction of the city gate at Lachish

So, the church that Jesus built was not a cowering group of saints hiding from the darkness in the world, but a fierce and resolute attacking force committed to breaking down the gates of the Enemy. Did you catch that? The church – with Christ at the Head – is the aggressor! The church is the bully! The church has picked the fight with the Enemy where he is fortified and can do the most damage.

Now here’s a question for you: Is your church really attacking the Enemy where he is fortified in this world? Be honest. What does your congregation do together that is the equivalent of suiting up for war and attacking the very gates of Hell? If you can’t answer that with something substantial, your church probably doesn’t resemble the one Jesus had in mind.

People wonder what’s wrong with this country today, not realizing that the American church has become far too comfortable. Like King David who stayed home to take it easy while Joab took the men into battle, the American church has for the most part done the same thing. The hard truth is that we enjoy all the material blessings while the persecuted church of the does the dirty work – making real disciples. They are the reason Christianity is still spreading in the world. You know why? The gospel. It’s what Jesus’ church is built on and when it’s the only thing, there’s no doubt it’s the most important thing.