Following Christ = Self Sacrifice (Matthew 8:34)

“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’”

Within this verse there are three commands for the Christ follower on how to follow Christ. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow Him. Each is the idea that following Christ equals self-sacrifice for His glory.

What He commanding us to deny is our sinful fleshly desires. He is not telling us to starve ourselves or to deny any form of happiness, but rather to deny ourselves of sinful pleasures that keep us from glorifying God. Since you have been walking with the Lord, what are some sinful desires that you have been convicted to deny (maybe successfully or unsuccessfully)?

We need to remember that this is prior to Jesus dieing on the cross and that the listeners would have only associated "take up your cross" with the torturous execution of criminals. This is a frieghtening call. Crosses in Jesus' day were not the pretty little things that hang around our neck or on our walls, they were most brutal form of death known to them.

“We must love Jesus not only more than our families but more than our own lives. For all our talk about low self-esteem these days (and most of us do view ourselves as less than what God has called us to be), the vast majority of people still cling desperately to life (compare Eph 5:29; Epict. Disc. 2.22.15-16). But the moment we become Christ’s followers, our own lives and wills become forfeit; we die with Christ to sin (that is, to the right to make selfish choices, Rom 6:3-4) and choose a path that could lead any day to our execution for Christ’s name (Mt 16:24). Although we may speak glibly today of ‘our cross’ as the need to put up with Aunt Molly or a leaky roof, ‘taking up the cross’ in Jesus’ day meant being forced to bear the instrument of one’s execution past a jeering mob to the site of one’s imminent death as a condemned criminal.” (Craig S. Keener, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew, pg210)

Let’s get past glib shallow ideas of what this verse means. Have you ever had to embrace your Christianity to the point that real suffering came upon you? Is there something wrong with our walks with the Lord if we have never really suffered for His sake?

Finally, Jesus commands us for follow Him and thus His ways. This is simply a call to live according to Christ’s example of love, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and sharing the gospel. We are also to obey His teachings. If we are to follow Him then we must look like Jesus and fully embrace His Word the Bible. You cannot live an unforgiving life and claim to follow Christ. You also cannot reject clear teachings of scripture and claim to follow Christ. Things change when we embrace following Christ. Do others see a difference in you as a result of following Christ, or does you life look just like there's?

Intro to Matthew 8:34-38

We have all heard of poor examples of what it looks like to follow Christ. I think it is fair game to run down pastors who are poor examples of what following Christ should look like. One day a couple of years ago I was at home sick and all I could do was lie on the couch and watch TV. I ran across a seminar that was one TV lead by an African American leader name Tavis Smiley. For some reason I really got into the discussions they were having. I took it as an opportunity for a generic white pastor to learn something about the African American community. You guys know me and you know that if I were not the pastor of GCC I would be what is called a “generic white business man.” With that said I found the show very helpful in understanding different issues within the African American community and the African American church.

Tavis Smiley coined a phrase that day that stuck with me. He called out the “Pimp Daddy Preacher” for taking advantage of his position and people. He talked about these pastors who drove Lexus’ and wore suits that cost a half of my year’s salary and installed ATM’s in their churches!

After the seminar that became a symbol in my mind of how I did not want to pastor a church. The “Pimp Daddy Preacher” is a terrible example of what following Christ looks like. Following Christ is not about prestige, or material wealth, or the comfortable life. Following Christ is about self-sacrifice, and losing your life, and proclaiming Christ instead of yourself.

I want to take a few posts and look at Matthew 8:34-38 which deals with that it means to follow Christ. I find it helpful to reread the gospels and let Jesus remind me what following Him is all about.

Cat Fight

I have to proudly announce to the world that on Thursday, March 22, 2007 my son Mason got into his first fight. He bravely battled a little cat that he simply wanted to pet.

We went over to some friends' house who were out of town in order to let their dog out to use the restroom. While there Mason cornered their cat so that he could pet her (and probably pull her tail or something). The cat was not going for it. I followed closely behind fearing the worst. The cornered cat hissed a Stephen King horror movie hiss and started jabbing her front two paws. My son is either very brave or very ignorant, but he kept coming at her with his arms reaching out for her. Dad-Da (as I am called by the dude) quickly broke it up by snatching up my sweet little baby. The cat creepily stared at us all the way down the stairs as my son waved and said, “bye-bye.” I was terrified but also proud of the little dude. He was steady as a rock, ice in his veins.

Just as a side note the overly protective suburban Dad-Da found out that the cat has had all her shots and was de-clawed. Oh yeah, Justin and Lauren, sorry about my little dude jacking with you cat.

Being a Godly Man

Many times I have asked myself, “what kind of man do I want to be?” I continually come back to the attribute of godliness. I want to be a godly man. In my flesh I want to be the center of attention, I want to be esteemed. The reality is that I want to esteem God.

I have had the pleasure and at times curse of having been around a lot of pastors. I quit going to pastor’s conferences because I got tired of the egos. Sadly, pastors can be major egomaniacs. I desperately pray to God that I am not a prideful pastor, but a faithful godly man.

Dr. Roy Fish has been a Professor of Evangelism at one of my seminaries (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) for over 40 years. I was not able to get him for Evangelism 101 during my MDiv studies, but have had the privilege to be around him twice now. My wife and I did a study tour in England two summers ago and got to know Dr. and Mrs. Fish. Dr. Fish is the interim president of the North American Mission Board and thus we got to be around Dr. and Mrs. Fish again at our commissioning weekend.

I am not trying to “name drop” with this piece and in reality I would not know Dr. and Mrs. Fish if it were not for my wife. Kristen came to know the Lord during a revival service led by Dr. Fish and because my wife is the friendliest person I have ever met she ended up chumming with the Fish’s in England.

Dr. Fish has the type of reputation and resume to be an egomaniac. An ego for me would be foolishness, but an ego for him would be understood.

However, Dr. Fish is a godly man. I have learned to genuinely care about people from watching him deal gently with a bunch of awkward seminarians. I have learned to focus upon evangelism by feeling his passion for the gospel and for the lost in his sermons. I have learned to respect the sanctity of the pulpit by watching him sneak down to pray to God prior to preaching. I have learned to walk humbly by watching him both interact with this fun wife and by laughing at himself. Finally I have learned to seek godliness by seeing him continue to faithfully preach God’s Word without scandal for over four decades.

By the way, all of this is from only being around the guy a couple of times. Pray for me as I seek to esteem the Lord in all that I do.

BOOK REVIEW: Religious Nuts Political Fanatics

This work was a blessing to me in January. Through Vagacs’ insights, U2 ended up really ministering to me. U2 has always been my favorite band and I feel they are the key identifiable group of my generation. My parents had The Beatles and Elvis, we have U2.

Brain Walsh in the foreword says that the “world needs describing, yes; but more importantly, this world needs healing and hope” (pgxiii). This statement grabs what U2 is all about as well as what Christian art should be all about.

Bono famously wrote to his father “It is our ambition to make more than good music” (pg3). From the very beginning U2 had a special mission. Ironically this mission was protected by the fact that U2 was not overly influenced by the evangelical subculture. I think this says much about how evangelicalism has tried (and failed) to influence the world.

Vargacs positions Bono as a psalmist and a prophet. Bono’s lyrics are filled with references to the psalms and he is even quoted as saying, “Words and music did for me what solid, even rigorous, religious argument could never do, they introduced me to God, not belief in God, more an experiential sense of GOD.” (pg9).

The really great aspect of the book is Vagacs’ interpretations of songs and albums from a theological perspective. He opens up these lyrics and themes for us to see the soul behind them. My favorite album is “Joshua Tree” which Vagacs addresses in chapter three. Even though I disagree with how Vagacs discounts the end time hope of most evangelicals (pg38), and some of U2’s views on America’s role in Central America; I do love that U2 embraces social justice and a hope in an eschatological reality.

My second favorite album is U2’s latest (“How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb”) where Vargacs highlights the theme of humility during our journey through life. During the vertigo of life, Yahweh teaches us how to kneel. Yahweh’s love is how we get through vertigo. Yahweh is the center of life. He is the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus promised.

U2 is the pinnacle of what artists are to be. They create true, lasting, and life-changing art. As I said above, this book really ministered to me and has enabled U2 to minister to me further and deeper. I recommend this book to professors, ministers, and laymen. I also highly recommend this work to seekers who want to get a glimpse of beautiful spirituality.

The special nugget that I discovered in this work was the song “40.” If you don’t know what they are talking about then figure it out. If you haven’t heard it then buy it. Make sure you buy the live version.

“I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He lifts me up out of the pits, out of the miry clay
I will sing, sing a new song”

Why I Love South Austin

I had an incident today that reminded me why I love South Austin. While I was driving I noticed that I needed an oil change, so I went to the local Kwik Kar. Normally getting my oil changed is a bit of a whip. I was greeted by a cool looking chick who was very helpful, but not in a small town sort of way but in a hippie sort of way. After a few “no worries” I was also helped by a young guy who walked me through some of the things they were doing to my new truck. Then there naturally began a very interesting discussion on the latest shows coming to town and some philosophical issues. When my car was finished the friendly hands-on care continued.

It is always neat have interesting philosophical conversations while getting your oil changed. I guess there was nothing that special about my oil change experience, but it was a little reminder about why I love this town.

By the way I am becoming more of an Austin-ite because I consciously choose locally owned joints, especially for my coffee. Keep up the good work Ruta Maya and Hill Country Coffee.

American Idol Rants

Last week the American Idol phenomenon started up again. Honestly, I have never really gotten into the show. My wife recorded the first couple of shows on our DVR. We had some friends over the other night and all watched it together. The first shows are kind of like watching a train wreck. It is chaos and mayhem, but for some reason we are drawn to it. I am not a musician thus I don’t really care about who is good and who is not. I can’t even define tone, pitch, or harmony. I am however a man and like watching a train wreck. I was always the kid in the back making fun of everything so I love Simon. I am just being honest here.

I do have two observations/rants about the show. First, why do people think celebrity means success? So many of these people were looking “to make something of their life” or trying to be a “success” and longed to have their name “in lights.” This was their driving force for showing up to the audition. As a pastor let me scream to the world that success is not as a result of you being so outlandish that you get on TV or in the tabloids. Get a life America are we that desperate? No offense to Britney Spears but does any sane father desire that train wreck for his daughter. If I have a daughter and she becomes Britney Spears for the record she will NOT be considered a success.

Successful living is connected to how you love those in your life. If you are a loving and providing husband than you are a success, a loving guiding father then you are a success, a foundation of your community and church then you are a success.

Means and worth is connected to our relationship to God. When we put our faith and trust in the person and work of Christ then we come adopted children of God. As His children we are fully accepted by Him. We don’t have to act like fools and get everyone to look at us to find worth. Christians have worth because we are granted it by the Father.

Second, kudos to Simon for destroying some of these people’s false views of themselves and of art. Art is not just something that you are born with or that you can just throw together. Most of these kids are a disgrace to the great artists of our day. Where do they get off thinking they can just sing along with Christina Aguilera in the car and then become professional singers?

I have a painter friend who devoted four years of undergraduate study to painting. I have a singer friend who has worked on her art for the 10+ years that I have known her. I have a friend who is an actor and makes movies. This guy works at his art. He is in the process of completing a 90-minute film. It takes him hours to edit just a couple of minutes of the film! I have a friend in Hollywood trying to become a writer. He is working hard and starting at the bottom to get his foot in the door.

It is disrespectful to other artists to just show up and think you are good because your mom told you so. Art is just like anything else, you are good as a result of commitment. God has blessed humanity with art and has called us to create as He has created. We show our character by how we create. Kudos Simon for sending these arrogant kids home. They don’t respect the art enough to get good at it.

Mary's Song Part 3

Mary magnifies God in her stressful significant season. This single mother, whom most probably did not believe her view that she conceived by immaculate conception, chose to praise God instead of becoming neutralized in fear. Instead of becoming fearful she praises God because (1) God had blessed her (1:48-49a), (2) God is holy (1:49b), and (3) God has Mercy on all generations that fear Him (1:50). This teenager continues to show theological and spiritual maturity in verses 51-55.

She praises God because “He has done mighty deeds” (51). She understands the power of God through His past behavior. She praises Him for (1) scattering the proud, (2) bringing down rulers, (3) exalting the humble, (4) filling the hungry, (5) sending away the rich, (6) helping Israel His people, and (7) revealing His will to us. Mary knows the breath of scripture and thus knows the power and greatness of her God.

This passage highlights the importance of each of us devoting our lives to knowing our God through knowing the Bible. If we are to know anything about God then we must know the Bible. My desire for those in Grace Community Church are for them to deeply love their God and be conformed to His image. I know that in order for them to do this they must spend time studying and meditating upon His Word.

If we are to walk with God then we must get up every morning and get into His Word. If we are live the abundant life that God offers then we must know Him and His will, which means that we must know His Word.
If you don’t have a daily devotional time with God where you spend time praying to Him and studying His Word then I want to spur you to action. If you want some guidance in this area of your life then let me know. If you have grown lax or uninterested with this discipline then I want to encourage you to get back in the saddle because there is nothing more important in your life than your spiritual life.

BOOK REVIEW: What on Earth is the Church?

Kevin Giles seeks to provide us with an evangelical ecclesiology for our day. He provides us with a good one-volume addition to the discussion of ecclesiology with the use of recent New Testament scholarship.

One of the positives of Giles study is his definition of Church. He defines Church as simply a “Christian Community.” This is a good definition because it is broad in the right places and narrow in the right places. It is broad enough to include the different common uses of “church” like in reference to denominations, but excludes parachurch and social action organizations. The Church is made up of Christians doing Christian activities and doing them in the context of “community” or together.

This idea of “community” is another strength of Giles work. He shows the very communal nature of the early church found in the New Testament. He gives a healthy criticism of how Western individualism has jaded the vision of Christian Community. Our spirituality must be done together. As we say in Grace Community Church after our study of the book of James, “you can’t claim to be spiritual if you are a jerk to everyone around you.”

Finally I want to point out an interesting argument for the institutional nature of church. I don’t know if this is very original or if I have only read “free church” ecclesiologies, but I had not really heard of this. Giles points out that the New Testament church becomes increasingly institutional as it evolves. He notes that the church is pure and loose in the beginning then becomes more theologically understood then evolves to clear guidelines for leadership in the Pastoral Epistles.

I remain a “free church” advocate, but I like his reasoning. Giles takes this reality as a proponent for Anglican institutional realities that I disagree with, but I do agree that theology is evolving and the Church can evolve to a degree.

Let me give an example. Giles criticizes basing our understanding of Church too much on simply doing a word study on “ecclesia.” It would appear that the early Church needed to call what they were doing something and “ecclesia” made sense. I am pastoring a six-month old church plant. The church is constantly evolving toward a more institutional state. Giles helped me realize that this was not a negative reality, but simply a certain reality. Concerning “ecclesia” we have had trouble deciding what to call our Sunday evening meeting. It has been called “church”, “meeting”, “service”, and “time.” Our time is very similar to the early church in that we meet in a home, have worship prayer and Bible study, and we eat together. In this way it is a cross between modern day Community Groups and Sunday Worship Services.

I share this in order to say that local churches and the Church both evolve towards institutionalization. We need to understand this reality in order to utilize it instead of being controlled by it. I pray that as GCC becomes increasingly more institutional we remain lucid enough to follow God’s leading and remain faithful to the New Testament vision of the Church.

Mary's Song Part 2

In the first couple of verses of the Mary Song we see that Mary has an attitude of exaltation and praise during this significant season in her life. She is a great example to all of us, especially those of us who are in significant seasons. She provides an example for us to praise God and rejoice in Him at the deepest levels of our being.

This teenage girl is also a practical theologian. What I mean is that she does not have simple immature thoughts about God, but instead has a deep mature beautiful understanding of God. I long for teenagers like Mary in Grace Community Church.

In Luke 1:48-50, we see why Mary does what she does in this significant season. She praises God from her innermost being because He had blessed her, because He is holy, and because He is merciful.

Even though Mary did not have all the answers, she understood life and her situation as a blessing from God. She understood that she existed in a humble state before God and considered herself blessed that He would invade her life. She understood that she was a product of His grace. She considered it a blessing that He would stoop to be involved in her little life. She was humble and embraced God’s grace in her life.

She also praised Him for the simple yet profound fact that He is holy. If she fully understood this reality about God then I feel very insecure as a pastor. The fact that God never does wrong and does everything with perfect timing is mind-blowing to me. Jesus was completely opposite of the world, but was able to perfectly exist within in it. Unlike the rest of us He influenced the world and was not influenced by it. God is holy and Jesus is our example.

She finally praised God for the amazing mercy that He has had on countless generations “who fear Him.” She understood the importance of faithfully fearing and following Him. She also again embraces His grace by praising Him for His profound mercy on so many that don’t deserve it.

This teenage girl has such a rich spirituality. She embraces God’s grace and praises him for how He has blessed her, for the fact that He is holy, and for the great mercy He has shown upon so many. I pray that you could also embrace God’s grace in your life and develop a rich spirituality marked by humility and grace.