Our Misery, God’s Mercy
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God
Job 40:1-2
And the Lord said to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job 42:1-6
Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
James 5:11
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
When God creates a humble hush,
And makes Leviathan his brush,
It won’t be long before the rod
Becomes the tender kiss of God.
What we have lost God will restore –
That, and Himself, forevermore,
When he is finished with his art,
The silent worship of our heart.
Poetry by John Piper; illustrations by Christopher Koelle.
The Macro Purposes of God in Our Sufferings
The macro purposes of God in our sufferings include:
Repentance
Suffering is a call for us and others to turn from treasuring anything on earth above God.
Luke 13:4-5 - Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Reliance
Suffering is a call to trust God not the life-sustaining props of the world.
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 - For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Righteousness
Suffering is the discipline of our loving heavenly Father so that we come to share his holiness.
Hebrews 12:6, 10-11 - The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…. He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Reward
Suffering is working for us a great reward in heaven that will make up for every loss here a thousand-fold.
2 Corinthians 4:17 - This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Matthew 5:11-12 - Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Reminder
Suffering reminds us that God sent his Son into the world to suffer so that our suffering would not be God’s condemnation but his purification.
Philippians 3:10 - …that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings.
Mark 10:45 - The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Source: John Piper
Beauty and Self-Image: Continuous Struggle, Constant Assurance
I’ve known of many girls who struggle with beauty and self-image. It is an issue that seems to pervade much of the young women in modern western society, even within the church. The need for the approval of man –or rather, men — saturates their heart and mind beyond the approval that God provides. Being seen by God as beautiful, precious, and valuable sometimes just isn’t enough. (I would also partly attribute the rise of the “princess” mentality to this problem of self-image)
However, there are also those who have struggled through and are winning the battle — they are embracing their identity in Christ, being convinced that they are the image of God, and that no external beauty can change that. One such women is Bethany Dillon, one of my favorite Christian singers as you probably know already. She wrote a song a few years ago, titled “Beautiful“, that speaks to the heart of these issues of beauty and self-image.
I was so unique, now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong but it’s killing meDoes someone hear my cry? I’m dying for new life
[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful, make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart, and be amazed
I want to hear you say who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love,
And beautifulSometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won’t you help me back to glory[Chorus]
You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful
A Stumbling Block to Some, Folly to Others
I am back home in the much cooler north (Toronto), but summer has already arrived in Louisville, and Southern Seminary is not immune. It’s already gotten up to 28c on the campus of the country’s biggest seminary, clearly evident by the t-shirts, shorts, dresses and skirts that are being worn on campus by students.
Because the season of 80F plus weather is upon us, I think it is necessary that we remind the young women around us — especially those in seminarians and Bible college students — that modesty is a must as Christians. It is not an option, or a nice to have if possible — it is mandated by God in the Holy Bible. By deliberately disobeying the Lord’s command is not only sinning against your Father in Heaven, but it also leads your brothers in Christ to be tempted.
As I’ve have written in the past of this issue, it is an area of temptation for many, that which many Christian men struggle and fight daily. However, something more must be said in reminder: immodesty in Christian women is a stumbling block to men, and folly to other women. As C. J. Mahaney has rightly noted in a recent blog post, immodesty “is much more than wearing a short skirt or low-cut top; it’s the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s pride, on display by what you wear.”
My pastor, Ryan Fullerton, addressed the issue before a full crowd a few Sundays ago, preaching an hour-long sermon on the freedom of modesty; he grilled us pretty hard on the issues at hand!
For there surely is a direct link between our heart and our clothes, and what women wear — what we wear on the outside — is the outward expression of our heart. “Your clothes say something about your attitude.” If the heart is full of pride, lust, and an attitude of “look at me; check out what I got!”, then what you wear will more likely be immodest — showing the world the deceitfulness of your heart. Flaunting what you got, drawing the attention of fallen men, and tempting them to treat you as objects rather than sisters: such is a stumbling block to those brothers and folly for other sisters to observe. It tells those around you about who you really think you are, and what you think about your identity and self-worth.
Dressing to attract and dressing attractively are certainly two different issues, but regardless, both attitudes need an extreme makeover — to “a heart that is humble, that desires to please God, that longs to serve others, that’s modest, that exercises self-control.” (more…)
The World vs. God
I shared this quote with a friend back home recently:
The world says ‘marry the one you love’.
God says ‘love the one you marry’.
How have we lived?
Is it possible to live both these paths concurrently and still be an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ rather than a hypocrite?
Have we lived like the world, or have we lived like Christ?
Are we living according to secular culture,
or are we living according to the Scriptures?
Have we died to sin and lived to God?
Are we dying to our sins and living to God?
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)
Are we fleeing from temptation and running to Christ? Are we putting off the old and putting on the new? Are we becoming more humble and less prideful? Are we living through the vine and bearing spiritual fruit? Are we grieved by our disobedience and is our godly grief producing repentance? (more…)
My Hope of Glory is Christ
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
It’s Christ in us that is the Hope of Glory.
What is your hope of glory?
The world has a lot of hope of glory, but it’s all external hope.
The world says that for you and me to be complete, you need to have something done to you.
You need to have someone with you. It’s all about relationships, for that’s how you feel complete.
You need to have circumstances right around you in order to have a sense of completion in life.
You gotta improve your view of you.
You must have something said about you.
You must have a position or title bestowed upon you.
You must have more things that are owned by you.
You must wear the right thing on you.
You must be complete by the things that are accomplished through you.
They are all external things.
They are all external modifications that the world says this is how you make your life complete.
But you’ve got bigger problems than that.
You need an internal transformation.
Lessons Learned
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted something substantial of my own. About two weeks ago, I went into busy mode doing a position paper for Systematic Theology I on “Are Gender-Neutral Bibles a Valid Evangelical Option?” Researching, reading through my sources, organizing my thoughts, and writing it all up took up a lot of time and mind-numbing burden. I had put it off for a long time, and it was another one of those big fat pink elephants in my room that haunted me for a long time.
But it’s all done now. And I even finally took my floating exam for my Personal Spiritual Disciplines class. All I had to do was go into the Dr Whitney’s office and the secretary gave me a blank notepad to write out the Books of the Bible spelled correctly in order, the Ten Commandments (the “Decalogue” for us theological types) in short form, and 1 Timothy 4:7,16. All in all, something that I want to discipline myself for memorizing/reciting every month or so.
In these past two weeks, I can testify that when I went into busy seminarian mode my devotions went down the drain. Making time for it became harder than ever; studying about Scripture & theology does not necessarily equate to knowing God better. When I was busy working on my paper, all my free time was spent eating while watching a short tv show (’Top Gear’ actually, a British tv show about cars) and that was all the fun I had.
And now that things have died down for this last week of classes, it is even harder to get back into a disciplined devotional habit. I am following a Reading Plan, and right now the guilt haunts me to see how far behind I am. But still, God’s grace is enough and I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. The buck stops here.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Something that happened during this hiatus from normal life, was a lesson I learned about myself. There was at least two times where me and God, God and I had some long talks as I walked around the seminary lawn late at night. He’s been telling me all semester to do this one thing, and it was not until now that I had done it. I thought I was doing it all along, but rather, I was doing quite the opposite. The lesson was simply this: let go, and let God. To give it all to Him. Stop trying to take it into my own hands. But to have Him show me what is really best for me. And He told me, the best isn’t doing things my way, or even in the way I think is best. But to do it all His way.
And so, it’s gone. Goodbye. So long, farewell.
Into Your hands, Lord, I commit myself. Again.
A Love Story
One day I woke early in the morning to watch the sunrise. Ah, the beauty of God’s creation is beyond description. As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work. As I sat there the Lord brought His presence on me. He asked me,”Do you love Me?”
I answered, “Of course God! You are my Lord and my Savior!”
Then He asked,
“If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?”
I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs, and the rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn’t be able to do, the things that I took for granted. And I answered, “It would be tough, Lord, but I would still love You.”
Then the Lord said,
“If you were blind, would you still love my creation?”
How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and His creation. So I answered, “It’s hard to think of it, but I would still love you.”
The Lord then asked me,
“If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?”
How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood. Listening to God’s Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered, “It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your Word.”
The Lord then asked,
“If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?”
How could I praise without a voice? Then it occurred to me, God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we are persecuted. We give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered, “Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name.”
And the Lord asked,
“Do you really love Me?” (more…)
A Moment to Pause & Reflect
It’s been almost 3 months since I first arrived here in Louisville to start a long pilgrimage towards an M.Div here at Southern Seminary. Looking back at the past three months, it really feels like time has just flown by so quickly!
There has been so much to read and study for every class I am taking, even as I am only taking 11 hours of classes. I have learned more about theology (Systematic I) and the Scriptures (NT I) than I have ever learned before, and have been convicted by Dr. Don Whitney of the importance of doing the biblical personal Spiritual disciplines daily and without ceasing. Furthermore, I cannot neglect mentioning how much of a blessing it is to be learning the biblical languages. And although Greek has been very difficult in many instances (especially “participles”), I know I can do it well if I just put my entire effort into it — which I honestly do not find myself doing so just yet.
Thus, with all that has happened academically, spiritually and personally, I find it necessary to take a moment to pause and reflect on how the semester has gone so far. To all my seminarian friends who are reading this, I exhort you to do the same. Let us take a moment — may it be just 15 or 30 minutes — to pause whatever we are doing and just reflect and examine ourselves for what we have done in these short three months. We are in the “home stretch” of the semester with three weeks of classes to go and only four weeks until final exams. That means there are only five weeks left in the semester, and the way things have gone and are going so far, I know I desperately need a moment to catch a breath, and discern what areas I have done well on, what areas I need improvement on, and what areas I need to completely repent and change from — academically, spiritually, personally.
The Holy Spirit reminds us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Henceforth, if we truly believe that we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven and under the sovereign reign and rulership of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, let us consider now the things we need to plant and the things we need to pluck up; what things we need to break down and what things we need to build up; which things we need to keep and those must be cast away. I could go on, but the truth of the matter is, it is basically impossible to go forward effectively without looking back to evaluate where we have been and how we have done what we have done.
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Get Out. Now!
In Mark 4:18-19, Jesus is in the middle of explaining the Parable of the Sower and narrows in on the seeds that are sown among the thorns. “They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
What I realized as I studied this passage in the cafe was how much this is representative of those in our churches, and especially the young women. During my quiet studying, a bunch of girls passed by the Founders Cafe and I overheard one of them saying something along the lines of, “It sucks so bad that I don’t have the money right now to go shopping.” (Do I need to mention that this happened on the campus of Southern Seminary?)
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Who do you think you’re dating?
Over the past six months, I have been confronted with the heart-wrenching news that three of my Christian friends are dating non-Christians / unbelievers. I have previously proclaimed my disgust here — for these are not simple-minded, young, baby believers who are committing this outright, public sin. These are well-seasoned and mature believers, servants and leaders in the church, and furthermore, children of parents who are leaders, elders, deacons in their respective churches.
I bring this topic up again because studying the Gospel according to Matthew for class over the past month has been personally convicting, and hitting really close to home — too much to be comfortable actually. I mourn because I fear that my friends’ spirits may not be poor enough to update me about their situation, nor humble enough to ask for my prayers. I write this because I am pleading with the Lord to have mercy and soften their hearts; I do not know what to do but to seek His kingdom and His righteousness by prayer and by His Word.
I certainly am in no way any better than them, and I write this not from some holy pedestal, but with an understanding that I could very well be one of them. When rightly tempted at the right time with the right temptation, I could easily see myself succumbing and falling just like them — to forfeit the biblical commands and my moral convictions and satisfy my need for friendship, companionship, love and sexual pleasure. If it were not for the grace of God and the Holy Spirit that has worked within me undeservedly, I would be even worse of a sinner than them — with my sins publicly displayed, I would easily be expelled from Southern Seminary or any other liberal theological institution for that matter.
But blessed be the name of the Lord; I am doing better than I deserve because of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to me. And ’tis all because His forbearance with my impatient, deceitful heart.
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Desiring to Do What is Right
Have you ever wanted to do something, and yet there was this thing inside of you that held you back from doing what is right? Whereas if you actually had the ability to do God’s will, you would do it — but somehow, life just doesn’t turn out the way you want it to?
That’s what I’m feeling… hopefully, God would shed some light on me through this passage:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
The Apostle Paul, in Romans 7:18
Some words of wisdom from early church theologians…
Chrysostom, in Homilies on Romans 13:
The Soul Governs the Body.
“Paul is not attacking the flesh when he says this. The fact that nothing good dwells in it does not mean that it is evil… Paul is not finding fault with the body but pointing out that the soul is superior to it. It is the soul which governs the body and is responsible for sin, not the flesh.”
Augustine, in Continence 3.6:
“It is possible for a good to be performed when there is no yielding to evil lust, but good is completed or perfected only when evil lust itself no longer exists.”
Prosper of Aquitaine, in Grace and Free Will 4.2:
I Cannot Do It.
“Although Paul has received knowledge of right willing, he cannot find in himself the power to do what he wills. It is not until he receives a good will as a gift that he find the power for the virtues which he seeks.”
SDG
When the timing is right
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
There is indeed a time for everything…
Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
While we’re on the topic of hamartiology and in relation to my previous post, here’s an new book coming out that bring a fresh perspective to how we deal with refined sins:
Respectable Sins:
Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
by Jerry Bridges
(According to Amazon, Delivery estimate: November 8, 2007)
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Navpress Publishing Group
(Published on 09/15/2007)
ISBN-10: 1600061400
Book Description
As Christians, we believe that all sins are considered equal in God’s eyes. Yet while evangelicals continue to decry the Big Ones–such as abortion, adultery, and violence–we often overlook more deceptive sins.
It seems we have created a sliding scale where gossip, jealousy, and selfishness comfortably exist within the church. In short, some sins have simply become acceptable.
Acclaimed author Jerry Bridges believes that just as culture has lost the concept of sin, the church faces the same danger. Jerry writes not from a sense of achievement, but from the trenches of his own personal battles. Drawing from scriptural truth, he sheds light on subtle behaviors that can derail our spiritual growth.
Throughout, Jerry encourages victory over personal sin through the gospel’s transforming power. This release is perfect for readers who long to thoughtfully examine their lives and discover a deeper walk with God.
How many times have you committed adultery today?
I have been reading over Matthew 5:27-32 very slowly, over and over, studying this section of the Sermon on the Mount concerning lust and divorce for the purpose of tracing out the prepositions for my New Testament I class.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
My friend and fellow seminarian Jeremy shared about the issues at hand earlier. When I was tracing these verses, what I realized was a pain-staking truth that I had never seen before. My spiritual lightbulb finally turned on immediately out of nowhere:
We can be completely blind, and amputated — and yet we can still commit adultery.
Indeed, if Jesus truly saw that literal mutilations and amputations would be able to rid us of evil, lustful and adulterous behavior, then he would have commanded us to do so. But Christ did not command us to do so, nor do we have any churches today — orthodox or heterodox — that calls its members to do so. Hence, the supposed command in verse 29-30 is a hyperbole that should scream at us to awaken us to the truth that the problem is in our hearts: “The root of sin lies in the heart, not in sense organs or limbs” (Doriani, 66).
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Search me, Know me
A prayer and reflection on Psalm 139
Father Almighty,
You have searched me, and you know me. You know everything about me. Everything that I think about: all my dreams, hopes, and ambitions; all of my sins, failures and weaknesses. You know it all. And in all this, you know even my hidden intentions, including the worthless affections and vain desires that I hold in secret. Wherever I go, whatever I do, you know my heart—you know every reason, motive, and purpose behind it. Even before I think it, want it, feel it or do it, you knew every detail about it. Before I even confess anything to you, before I open my mouth—my words are intimately known by you.
For you are God. I cannot lie to you. Even if I speak untruths, you know already what is truly on my mind.
I could run, I could hide, but I can never escape your presence. You are here, there, you are everywhere. I dare not even try to flee from you, for such would be a waste of my energy—you would be there before I move one step. Therefore, I come to you; I run to you and hide myself in you and in your Son, Jesus the Christ. For from you, in you, and through you alone I live, move, and breathe.
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Tabula Rasa
There was a time not long ago that I subconsciously thought that coming to Southern Seminary and moving to Louisville would be the answer to all my problems. Not that I have any significant problems in my life or traumatizing issues to deal with, but I am sure there was a part of me that hoped to run away from those unresolved concerns that plague my sinful heart. Those who truly know me know that I am mature enough not to start seminary with such a mentality, and that is why in the months leading up to my start at Southern I had actively sought to die to such sinful, unhelpful, futile thoughts.
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If There’s One Thing
Too often, my wayward, deceitful heart does what it naturally is inclined to do–it deceives me. It tricks me into thinking that if I just could have that one thing, then everything will be fine! Everything will be A-OK, I will be happy — no longer distracted, anxious or worrisome — and all things in my life would fall into place! While that one thing has been put in me by God, it was never intended to have such a high place in my heart; that selfish place that it has in my life I have lifted it up there myself.
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Sabbath Rest
Today is Saturday. It is the Sabbath.
While it is true that we are commanded to observe the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8 — “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” — it is also true that the New Covenant was inaugurated by Jesus Christ. And if the Lord Jesus has inaugurated a new covenant in his blood, then the Mosaic covenant must be thought of as the old covenant. “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath,” says Jesus in Matthew 12:8.
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Rest for my Soul
I started reading through the Gospel according to Matthew a couple days ago and have just finished chapter 13. But in Matthew 11:25-30, I was reminded of the Spiritual rest that I am yearning for. Over the past few days and week, I actually have not been physically tired from getting used to living on campus and at Southern, but something has been awry I knew. At first, I couldn’t really put my finger on it, until I read through and past this passage — and then returned to examine what I had read. The passage is titled “Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest“:
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Thank you for revealing yourself to me, Lord Jesus. For without knowing you, I cannot find rest in you. And so, I praise you that you give me this wonderful privilege of being able to know you — through the works of Your hands and the Words from your mouth.
SDG
Genuine Conversations
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
May I be frank with you? I want us to have genuine conversations.
There are some blogs on the Internet that do not have a comment section, and if they do, some do not make comments public. For example, see Southern Seminary president Albert Mohler’s blog, or the Desiring God blog where John Piper blogs.
I am no world-class theologian, and likely will not be regardless of how disciplined I am in reading widely. However, in the true spirit of the blogsphere where the comment section drives blog discussions, my blog is open for comments (and rebuke, correction, training in righteousness).
Before you do, however, make sure you have read up on why I blog and the disclaimer in place for commenting.
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Acutely Aware
There is not a day that goes by where I am not acutely aware of the sinfulness of my heart and the depravity of my flesh. Just because we are Christians and saved by Christ’s death on the cross, it does not mean that we are immune to the Adamic fall and the effects of original sin.
Because of Adam’s sin, all of us are imputed by it, and as a result, all of humanity sinned in Adam. Since we participated actually in Adam’s sin and were seminally there, depravity is total and we inherit both the corrupt nature and guilt of our first parents.
As Paul wrote in Romans 3:9-10,
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
Those of us seminarians and men in ministry are not immune to the corruption of the human nature either. We are tempted, and sometimes even sin. Even while we strive to submit to the authority of Christ in our lives, our fleshly bodies often fails us. While we who are baptized with the Holy Spirit do not want to sin, I myself can certainly testify that I often do what I do not want to do — the very things that we hate! The free will God has blessed us with only desires to attain its own pleasures and never the pleasures found in Christ. Whatever obedience we seemingly muster out of ourselves in this pilgrimage is the work of Christ in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and thus, it is not I who by my own strength obeys but it is God who enables me by grace to work out my salvation with fear in trembling (Philippians 2:12-13).
As Paul himself testified in Romans 7:13-20,
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
As I suffer through the current heat wave in Toronto, I am again reminded of the truths in the those statements. It is very rare not to see a scantily clad girl on the street, at just about every corner I turn, wearing next to nothing and showing just about everything. Since it is the summer, modesty is out, immodesty is in-style and more popular than ever. The thirty-five degree celsius weather only exasperates the problem and provides plenty of meat for men to gawk at, women wearing even less because it is very hot and humid.
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I’m Just Not Attracted To Her
Michael Lawrence (Associate Pastor at CHBC) has published a superb 2-part series at Boundless on the theme of attraction. He addresses some serious issues that I myself have struggled with. It’s been personally convicting, as I have many times wondered why I’m not attracted to her (or her..).
Here’s an excerpt from the introduction of part 1:
How many times have I talked to a single guy who wants to get married, only to hear him say that he knows lots of great women? He admits these women have godly characters and fantastic personalities. But he’s not dating any of them. When I ask why not, the reply comes with a sigh. “I’m just not attracted to them.” Pity the single Christian man with high standards and good taste. He can’t help it he’s single. The godly women he knows just aren’t beautiful enough.
What to do? Pastor Lawrence suggests,
So what are you attracted to in a woman? Make a list and then prioritize it. Now do it again and be honest. How many things on your list are matters of mere preference — eye color, body type, etc., and how many are qualities that point beyond the woman to the God whose image she reflects — character, sense of humor, virtues, etc.? What are your highest priorities? There’s nothing wrong with having physical and personality traits on your list of what makes a woman attractive. In fact, you need to be physically and personally attracted to the woman you marry. If you’re not, marriage won’t provide the kind of protection against sexual sin that Paul speaks of (1 Corinthians 7:1-9).
But if the physical or personal is entirely (or mainly) what attracts you and these are your highest priorities, then your problem is not with the women around you. Your problem is with God. The more you are in love with the beauty of Jesus Christ, the more you will be attracted to what you see of Him in the woman you’re dating and the more important it will be to you. The less you love Him, the more important other things about her will become, things like her figure or style.
Rebuked of Legalism by Grace
When talking to anybody and everybody I meet that are more than just mere acquaintances, us seminarians/future pastors seem to be put on a holy pedestal — as if we are somehow better, more holy than everybody else. While it is true that those who teach will be judged with greater strictness (James 3), the preconception that we are more spiritual or holy is completely unfounded, for the only difference I know of between me and non-seminarians is the specific calling from God upon our lives. It is simply a different calling of vocation and life’s ministry.
Seminarians are human too; we make mistakes; we sin; we need to repent and ask for forgiveness from God like everybody else.
I was recently rebuked by a fellow brother in Christ of my carelessness in seeking to encourage and edify — unintentionally doing so at the wrong time, wrong place, with little love & gentleness, nor in much of a spirit of grace. Thank God for his correcting me of my wrong doing. It is indeed another reminder of what a sinner I am, one who is daily in need of the discipline of Christ’s grace in order to be convinced that I am His own — a saint.
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