wordofgod

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

What Is the Most Important Thing Taught in the Bible?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Editor’s note: Truth isn’t afraid of questions. If you want to become better equipped to share your Christian faith, don’t miss Shane Rosenthal’s podcast, The Humble Skeptic.

If I were to ask you to write down the most important things taught in the Bible, what do you think you might include on your list? Worship, prayer, discipleship, faith, heaven, grace, the Trinity?

Now this next question is a little harder. Which of the topics that appear on your list would you end up placing at the very top? In other words, what is the most important topic in all of Scripture? Would you be able to come up with a single answer to that question, or do you think it’s just too difficult to rank biblical topics in this way?

Jesus himself said that some matters of the law were weightier than others.

You may be tempted by the thought that because the Bible is God’s inspired word, all its precepts are of equal weight and value. Yet, Jesus told the Pharisees, “You tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matt. 23:23). Now of course it wasn’t that tithing mint, dill, and cumin were unimportant things, but according to Jesus they apparently carried less weight and significance when compared with the much more important themes such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

There is also another passage in Scripture where a lawyer asked Jesus which of the commandments found in the law of Moses was the greatest. And as you may recall, Jesus didn’t end up saying that all the commandments were of equal value and importance, but he instead cited the words of Deuteronomy chapter 6, which says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This he said, “is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:36-40).

There is an important distinction between the most important commandment in the Law and the most important thing in all of Scripture.

Perhaps, then, following Jesus, we could say that “loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength” is the most important thing in all of Scripture. Well, if we consider carefully the lawyer’s original question, he didn’t actually ask Jesus, “What is the most important thing in all of Scripture,” but rather, “What is the most important commandment recorded in the Law of Moses?” This, as we’ll see, is an important distinction.

The thing we should notice at this point, however, is that Jesus didn’t seem to have any difficulty ranking various biblical themes in the order of their importance. And so, in light of this, what do you think every Christian should place at the very top of their list? What biblical idea should be considered the thing of first importance?

The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the most important thing in all of Scripture—the gospel.

Thankfully, we don’t have to go through the difficult process of weighing and comparing all the doctrines of the Bible in an attempt to answer this question, since the apostle Paul has already done the heavy lifting for us in the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 15:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… (1 Cor. 15:1-4)

According to verse 1, Paul makes clear that he is writing to the Corinthians in order to remind them of the gospel of Jesus.

In many churches today the focus ends up drifting away from the gospel to other things.

Now, I’m convinced that in far too many churches in our day the gospel appears to be taken for granted. And because it’s something that many pastors simply assume that everyone already knows, over time our focus ends up drifting away to other things—things that are more practical, relevant and me-centered. But Paul never did end up taking the gospel for granted. As he says here in the first few verses of this passage, it was the heartbeat of his preaching while he was with the Corinthians; it was the message in which they stood and by which they were being saved. And here in this letter, Paul takes time to remind them of the gospel once again, now that he’s away.

Notice what Paul says in verse 3: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” What is this thing of first importance that Paul had already delivered to the Corinthians? Well, it’s the very thing he just mentioned. He’s writing to remind them of the gospel that he had proclaimed while he had been among them. In other words, according to the apostle Paul, of all the things he had taught the Corinthians while he lived among them, the most important thing was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about our best life now or our best world now.

Unfortunately, in our day there appears to be a great deal of confusion about the nature of the Christian gospel. Some say the good news is that Jesus delivers us from things like depression or poverty, and that if we apply his principles to our lives, he can help us to achieve our “best life now.” Others say the good news is that Jesus inspires us to reform all our social institutions and helps us to create our “best world now”—you know, one without hatred, greed, intolerance, or carbon emissions. The wonderful thing about Paul’s statement in this passage is that he not only tells us that the gospel is the thing of first importance, but he also very clearly defines it for us as well.

Let’s take another look at verses 3-5 of 1 Corinthians 15: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Whether you are a new Christian, or you’ve been a believer for many decades, let this short summary of the gospel that Paul outlines here be an anchor for your soul.

The gospel is the good news of what has already been accomplished; it’s not a set of instructions or a to-do list.

First, we should notice that there’s nothing in this brief summary that you or I need to accomplish. According to the apostle Paul, the gospel has already been accomplished (which is why it’s called “good news” rather than a “set of instructions” or “to-do list.” Paul says that this gospel is rooted in the fact that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, as recorded well in advance in the Hebrew Scriptures, and was seen by numerous living eyewitnesses. This is the very heart of the good news that we profess.

Some of you may be familiar with the famous Life magazine cover featuring a WWII sailor in Times Square who decided to kiss a total stranger. What was it that caused this young man to kiss this woman he had never met? Well, it was just a natural reaction to hearing the announcement of the U.S. victory and the close of the war.

So now imagine for a moment that you were able to go back in time and give that same sailor a list of rules for his own personal improvement or a proposal for improving American society. Do you think this would generate the same kind of spontaneous joyful reaction? Of course it wouldn’t, because you haven’t given him any news worth celebrating—just mere instructions and imperatives that he needs to put into practice.

If you ever feel discouraged about your lack of progress in the Christian life, let the words of 1 Corinthians 15 comfort you.

The same can be said of our faith. The gospel is the announcement of Christ’s victory, and when this is proclaimed in all its beauty and simplicity, the message is received with comfort and joy. Because of our sins, we who were formerly God’s enemies have now been reconciled to God. Since “in our place, condemned he stood,” the war is now over. But if the primary message you end up hearing week after week at your church has to do with various things you need to do, then you aren’t being grounded in the good news—which is the thing of first importance.

There are of course many imperatives and commands recorded throughout the Scriptures. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to love one another, to pray, to worship, etc. But these instructions are not the gospel. Are they important? Of course they are! But we are never called to perform these duties in order to get right with God. Rather, the gospel declares to us that “Christ died for our sins.” This is how we are made right with God, since as Paul says elsewhere, we’ve been “justified by his blood” (Rom. 5:9).

The most important thing in Scripture—the gospel—is also the Christian’s greatest comfort throughout the ups and downs of life.

If you ever feel discouraged about your lack of progress in the Christian life, remember the words of 1 Corinthians 15. Let the words you find there bathe you once again as you reflect on Christ’s accomplishments, rather than focusing on your failures. He died and was buried in your place. Though you feel unworthy and condemned, in Christ you are graciously accepted and reconciled. And he not only bore your sin but was also raised again to new life, objectively—for you. It has already been accomplished.

If you’re in Christ, you’ve already been justified and there is now no longer any condemnation (Rom. 8:1). And if you’re in Christ, you’ll also begin to follow your Shepherd wherever he leads. Of course, sheep are prone to wander, so you’ll never do this perfectly, which is why Jesus taught us to pray “Forgive us our debts” immediately following our petition for “daily bread.” Therefore, put all your hope and confidence in your good Shepherd who “lays his life down for the sheep” (John 10:11). This is the thing of first importance.

On The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane Rosenthal explores the beliefs and ideas that shape our lives. His episode “Is Faith Irrational?” takes a deep dive into the nature of faith—is itevidence based or a blind irrational leap? You can listen to his podcast at humbleskeptic.com.

This article was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on November 16, 2022.

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Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Things I Wish I'd Known about Pastoring a Church When I Was Young

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

I was twenty-eight years old when I started in full-time ministry in 1999 as associate pastor of a large Presbyterian church. I was thirty when I was called to pastor a small suburban church on my own. I made loads of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I can’t turn back the clock, but I can share these lessons. I hope they might help young men who are just starting out in pastoral ministry. Most of these thoughts should be read in the category of wisdom or common sense, to be weighed accordingly.

Don’t talk about church all the time with your wife. On Mondays I took my wife out for coffee so that I could treat her to an in-depth analysis of the day before: who was there and who wasn’t, how well we connected with visitors, who was struggling or doing well, problems with the music, problems with the building temperature, etc. I made my number-one supporter feel second-best to the church.

Don’t talk about church problems in front of the kids. They begin to sense that their church is the enemy of their family.

Find an elder to unload your problems on. Not your wife or kids.

Don’t go out many nights of the week. Keep it to two, three as a rare exception. And especially don’t go out when it’s meal and bedtime with the kids. While you are always wanted at home, you are most needed at home then.

You will impose far more pressure on yourself than you should. You know that Jesus is the Lord and Great Shepherd of your church, but you will act and feel as though the progress of the church all hangs upon you. This is arrogant, wrong, sinful. Jesus did not say to any man, “You will build my church.” Believe this and train yourself to live and feel the truth of it.

Don’t listen to yourself on Monday. On Monday you are the world’s worst preacher who has just preached the world’s worst sermon to a church that is about to collapse. On Monday you dream of making pizza for a living or driving a semi-trailer. You think dark thoughts, not because any of them are true but because of adrenalin letdown. You gear-up the whole week for the big event: the Sunday service and sermon. You preach with an atypical degree of focus, energy, and expectation. When all this is over your mind and body relax and adrenalin levels drop to below normal—to shield you from hypertension. This is experienced as mild depression. Hence “I am the worst preacher….” Don’t take yourself seriously at such times. Just say, “It’s Monday; these thoughts will pass. This is the Lord’s church, not mine.”

It takes buckets of time to prepare a sermon. The economics of a sermon are preposterous. You spend fifteen to thirty hours preparing for a half-hour delivery. Don’t be tempted to cut down on this, to “make better use of my time.” Preaching God’s Word is the most important thing you can do. “‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’” (Jer. 23:29). God uses our Scripture reading and preaching to bring new birth, redemption, justification, adoption, and sanctification; to build godly marriages, families, workers, citizens, communities, and servants. Not a minute of your prayerful prep time is wasted. Clear and effective teachers teach only ten percent from what they know, so know a lot. Every hour of prep builds and shapes you as a true student and teacher of the Word. Furthermore, so much of our preaching is intangible. Conviction—the most important intangible of all—arises not from exciting yourself in the pulpit but from extensive prayerful preparation.

Keep an attendance roll. I have a list of all of the people who claim attachment to our church and after every Sunday I mark them ✓ as having attended, a as being away for a known reason, and leave a blank if they weren’t there and I don’t know why. After two or three blanks I get on the phone. I want to know how my sheep are doing, and I want to think about every person every week. This simple tool also helps removes “the anxiety of the unknown.”

Get into people’s homes. Don’t rely on “catching up with people on Sunday.” When you sit with your people in their living room or garden, I guarantee that you will discover all kinds of important things about them that you would never have learned at Sunday morning tea. Plus, it shows that you care about them.

Go to funerals and other life events. I once spent a whole day catching buses and trains to attend the funeral of the mother of one of our older ladies. She talked about this for years. She knew I cared for her.

Do less and pray more. You cannot change people’s hearts. You cannot convert and grow people. Plead with God who can.

Expect the Lord to humble you. Expect him to lower and abase you. He does this for your good and the good of his church. His only tool for achieving this is, by definition, humiliation (from the Latin humus, dirt). Humiliation is innately unpleasant. The Lord ensures that many a pastor will be made to eat dirt. Don’t disintegrate into tears or anger. Our Savior was reviled, and we will never be humiliated as much as we deserve. He must increase; we must decrease.

Cultivate the highest view of the nature, value, and purpose of the local church. The local church is the center of the Lord’s work on this earth. The church’s greatest leaders and teachers were very often local church pastors: Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Baxter, Edwards, Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, Stott, Keller. They prayed and preached to their church and wrote books for their people, and their good teaching spread more widely. All Christian schools, universities, theological colleges, hospitals, all missionaries and chaplains, and all great Christian social movements originate from and are sustained by local churches. Under God, no ministry counts more than that of the local church pastor.

Never view other churches and pastors as threats. It’s a ludicrous error, but we are prone to making it. The church is not like a McDonald’s franchise where nearby stores threaten to diminish our takings. We are more like the city of Cambridge, with dozens of semi-autonomous colleges that work together and reinforce and build each other up to create a deep and wide culture of learning and one of the great educational cities of the world. When churches near me do well, that can only be good for my own church, the city, and the Kingdom.

All ministry is long term. We sow seeds. We build foundations. We look not to tomorrow but to the decades and generations to come.

Let people leave with good will. It stings when a family leaves, especially if it is to attend the better church down the road. By all means, ask whatever hard questions need to be asked—especially of yourself—and then send them off with love and prayer and goodwill. Show your church that the Kingdom means more than “your patch.” Perhaps you have invested hundreds of hours into a person only to see them leave and to minister somewhere else. Praise God for the privilege of preparing people for wider kingdom work. Remember that you have benefitted from many who were discipled by others.

Remember that your sheep live in harder places than you do. Never feel sorry for yourself, for your heavy burdens and challenges and disappointments. You get to spend most of your time studying the Bible and meeting God’s people. Your people have far less time in the Word and have to live and study and work in non- or anti-Christian classrooms, workplaces, social environments, and even families. Let your people know that you understand the privilege of your position and the difficulty of theirs.

Go slow with potential future leaders. There’s nothing lost by progressing steadily and carefully. Paul warns against giving people too much responsibility too soon: an elder “must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6).

Reliability trumps giftedness. Hold to this when you come to identify and invest in future leaders. An unreliable wunderkind is “vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes.”

Don’t check emails in the morning. Why waste those golden hours? Emails can and must wait. Don’t answer late-night texts, or any texts, too quickly. Your time and attention are not “on tap.” It’s best not to train people to think that it is.

Give your family at least one uninterrupted twenty-four-hour period a week. Where they know that you won’t answer the phone or sneak a look at your emails or next week’s sermon.

Lean heavily on your elders. This is especially pertinent for hard cases and decisions. Paul ordered that elders be appointed to local churches in part so that burdens would be shared (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23; 2 Tim. 2:2).

Keep reading good books and pressing forward in your biblical learning. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said somewhere that this was vital for the development of young ministers, and for the stimulation and refreshment of older ministers.

Start a pre-church prayer meeting. We pray for thirty minutes and finish a quarter of an hour before the service starts.

Keep membership and baptism on the boil with regular classes and receptions. Show that you expect new and unbaptized Christians to be baptized, and all Christians to become members, to say in front of the church: “I am a Christian, and this is my church.”

Go back to paper bulletins. It is good to hand your regulars and visitors an attractive and informative paper bulletin as they enter church: something that they can read before the service starts, refer to during the week, and pass on to friends and family. Our four-page folded-A3 color bulletins include a precis of the sermon (including the word studies and other background parts that didn’t make it to the spoken version), attractive pictures, something for the kids, important contacts, and updates of all the regular and one-off meetings.

Don’t rush around on Sunday morning. Be Mary, not Martha. Let people see you sitting calmly, at least fifteen minutes before the service starts, reading over your text and praying. Your brothers and sisters will cover the rest, and your people will appreciate your meditative focus on what is most important.

Always ask people how they became a Christian. Christians love to answer this question, and unbelievers need to hear it. It will tell you a lot about where the person is at. And it is always best to ask newly attached Christians why they have left their old church. This sometimes leads to hard but important phone calls.

Compartmentalize your time. I give a whole day to the sermon, another to preparation of classes, another to visiting, and another to admin. You get a lot more done when you are focused and in your furrow. Did I say don’t check emails in the morning?

Decide which problems and errors you need to address head on, and which are best addressed through the regular preaching. A denial of Jesus’ divinity must be challenged post-haste. Eschatological differences or differences about the work of the Spirit may be better addressed organically.

Go with the goers. Beware of those who do not really want to learn and grow.

Translate the Hebrew and Greek for every passage from which you preach. Or at least the key parts of very long passages. Your language skills are hard won, perishable, and irreplaceably important for your careful exegesis of the text. Don’t forget the preaching intangibles of depth of understanding, conviction, and text-confidence—all nourished by time in the original languages. Without prayerful and diligent preparation, we tend to the abomination of self-reliance.

Accept that not everyone will like you.

Learn the art of “not caring.”I was given this counsel by one of the godliest and most experienced ministers I ever knew. It shocked me at first. At the time my church was shrinking, and I was tormented by failure. He wanted me to know that I could only do what I could do, that I could not control everything, and that I probably cared more about “success” than Christ, my family, or my salvation. He was warning me off inordinate and useless worry. “Be still/stop fighting and know that I am God.” This wise counsel was truly liberating.

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Monday, January 15, 2024

3 Good Things to Remember When You Feel Overwhelmed by Your Sin and Failures

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Although we may not be acutely aware of every sin, our conscience testifies to our sense of weakness and failure. In particular, our memories remind us of times in our lives when we may have sinned miserably—angry tempers, selfishness, divorce, harshness, neglect of children or parents, and pride are just a few transgressions we may have committed.

We recognize how the trials we have brought upon ourselves have originated in our own sin. Yet the Lord uses them to train us, to discipline us. The author of Hebrews declares:

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Heb. 12:5-7)

1. The Discipline of a Loving Father

It is good to self-examine and learn from our failures. Yet, perhaps more important than lessons learned is the question: how is God glorified in this? Is it possible that even in our self-inflicted trials—when we are acutely aware of our fallen, sinful nature—the glory of God is manifested by his work in and for us? Absolutely.

2. We Are Weak and Dusty Creatures

Consider our weakness as dusty creatures made from earthy clay: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor. 4:7). God uses our weakness to show that the power of a new life in the gospel of Christ Jesus (the treasure) is God’s surpassing power. In other words, God is working in us, refining us, disciplining us, and teaching us, and he is ultimately showing that the power is his, not ours. And it is a surpassing, incomparable power. Also consider Psalm 103:

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

Though he disciplines us, teaching us as a loving and gracious father, he remembers our dusty weakness with compassion.

3. God’s Love and Forgiveness in Christ Jesus

It is good to mourn our sins in confession, regretting the pain we have caused others and ourselves. It is right to have a healthy desire to be taught by God—to have the discipline of a loving father. Yet, in our weakness God shows forth his glory in the love and forgiveness we have in Christ Jesus who paid the penalty of our sins by his death on the cross, and “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor. 4:7).

So, when you feel overwhelmed by your sin and failures, remember the finished work of Christ on your behalf and ascribe blessing and glory to God for the love and forgiveness we enjoy at the hand of our loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful Father.

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24 Bible Passages That Affirm Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that one day there would be equality and unity among all races. While there are many more Bible verses on the subject, here are 24 passages in Scripture that affirm Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream (all Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version):

Every human being is made in the image of God.

Every human being is made in the image of God. Showing respect toward every person shows respect for God.

1. So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

2. “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.” (Gen. 9:6)

3. And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

Every human being has worth and dignity in the sight of God.

Every human being comes from Adam and Eve and is equal in God’s sight.

4. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

5. So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35)

6. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. (Acts 17:26)

7. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. (James 3:8-9)

Racism is a sin of pride.

The Bible is clear that pride and arrogance are sins. We should never view ourselves as being superior to any other person for any reason.

8. "The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate." (Prov. 8:13)

9. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Prov. 6:16-19)

10. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Prov. 16:5)

11. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. (Prov. 21:4)

12. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant. (1 Cor. 13:4)

Showing partiality is a sin.

We should never show partiality based on someone’s race, gender, income level, or social status.

13. “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” (Deut. 10:17)

14. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28)

15. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. (1 Tim. 5:21)

16. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (James 2:8-9)

We should love our neighbor as ourselves.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is one of the two great commandments, according to Jesus (Matt. 22:39). Racism always insults our brothers and sisters and causes us to commit murder in our hearts. Racism has also tragically led to the abuse and murder of millions of God’s image-bearers throughout history.

17. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.” (Lev. 19:17)

18. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matt. 5:21-22)

19. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)

20. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

Christians should always seek the unity of the church.

Racism has been present throughout history and has always threatened the unity of the church. The good news of Jesus Christ entails a new level of inclusivity and unity that culminates in a richly diverse congregation of saints worshiping together before the Lamb of God.

21. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles, but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. (Gal. 2:11-12)

22. And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” (Acts 10:28)

23. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. (Eph. 2:13-14)

24. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Rev. 7:9)

Racism is a violation of the two great commandments. Whenever we harm anyone in thought or deed, we are sinning against God and our neighbor. Furthermore, racism, just like all sin, is not merely sinful when we actively participate, but also when we turn a blind eye to wrongs being committed or choose not to care (consider the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37). Even if racism has little effect on some of us personally, many brothers and sisters in Christ are being harmed and are asking for our care and attention. May Christians around the world be known for their love, unity, impartiality, graciousness, kindness, and care for every human being.

This article was originally published on January 15, 2018.

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Thursday, January 11, 2024

4 Ways to Respond When Christians Hurt You

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

As the culture war rages on, there is another battle raging to which we must turn our attention. When I was a boy, my dad would sometimes tell me, “No one will hurt you so much as others in the church.” In my lifetime, this has generally proven to be true. Believers sometimes experience the greatest hurt in their relationships with other professing believers in the church at large.

When a professing believer hurts our feelings or reputation, how should we respond? Should we, in turn, demean that individual by telling others (whether privately or publicly), “I can’t stand him,” or “she’s such a mess” or “I’m not even sure that he or she is a Christian.” To our shame, most of us are guilty of having responded in such sinful ways. When someone hurts us, the instinct of our flesh is to hurt them back.

Thankfully, God does not leave us to our fleshly instincts to learn how to respond. Instead, He instructs us in very specific ways about how we should respond when someone does us harm. By virtue of our union with Christ—in His death and resurrection—we can learn to put the following into practice:

1. Remember the spiritual identity of the offending brother or sister.

The Scriptures differentiate between the children of God and unbelievers. Everyone who is united to Christ by faith has been adopted into God’s family. None of us deserves to be adopted into God’s family. It is the height of the spiritual blessings that God has conferred on us by grace. When we sin against others in the body, or when they sin against us, we are sinning against one of God’s beloved sons or daughters.

We are to view all professing believers as our brothers and sisters in Christ—as members of “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Eph. 3:14). Our actions are to accord with what we believe about the doctrine of adoption. If we are brothers and sisters in Christ, then we should “be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (Rom. 12:10), and we ought never “speak evil of one another” (James 4:11). If we viewed each other according to the doctrine of adoption, it would radically change the way that we respond when a brother or sister hurts us.

2. Pray for the offending brother or sister.

Jesus taught us to “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:28). If this is true with regard to our relationship to our enemies, how much more of our relationship to an offending brother or sister? When someone does something to hurt us, we should pray that God would grant him repentance, give him the same grace we need, and make him fruitful. It is a mark of humility when we do so.

After all, that is what we should want others to pray for us if we were the offending party. The old adage is true: It’s impossible to hate someone for whom you are truly praying in love. Furthermore, we often forget that 1 John 5:15-16 can apply to personal interactions that we have with other believers:

If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.

3. Cover the offending brother or sister.

We should make it our goal to overlook as many offenses as possible. The point is simple: A godly man or woman is a man or woman who knows how sinful he or she is and, therefore, should be able to pass by the personal offenses of the brethren. Scripture teaches us as much.

In the Proverbs we read, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sin” (Prov. 10:12); “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends” (17:9); and, “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression” (19:11). Of course, this principle would not hold true with regard to a criminal act or some serious act of abuse. We are required to report such actions to the lawful authorities. However, it should hold true in most other circumstances.

4. Confront the offending brother or sister.

If we cannot lovingly cover the offense of a brother, Jesus teaches us that it is incumbent on us to “go and tell him his fault…alone” (Matt. 18:15). This may be the least obeyed of all of Jesus’ commands. Infrequent are the times when one brother has privately gone to another brother by whom he believes that he has been wronged. It is vital for us to learn this lesson in our relationships with one another.

Jesus lays out the process by which the confrontation should occur—giving us recourse to include other brethren and the church if our brother will not receive private confrontation (Matt. 18:15-17). Of course, such private confrontation should only be done if it is safe to do so. We must always exercise wisdom and discernment in all circumstances.

In the house of God, Christians must learn to remember the identity of their brothers and sisters, humbly pray for their brothers and sisters, lovingly cover the sin of their brothers and sisters, and privately confront their brothers and sisters. As we do, we will see God’s grace healing and sustaining our relationships in ways that the world will never experience.

The hurt that occurs between believing brothers and sisters in Christ serves as a platform for the gospel to be at work. May God cause the truth of the gospel to work in our hearts in such a way as to impact our response to those who have hurt us in the church.

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

6 Things to Do If You Want to Be Married—and Aren't Yet

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

People can have a lot of idealistic thoughts about marriage. They may envision themselves marrying the person of their dreams and spending a lifetime of wedded bliss together. Stop. Wait a minute. Real life doesn’t exactly go that way all the time. Marriage is a gift from God, but it also requires a vast amount of commitment and sacrifice. Still, there are a lot of benefits to married life, and people all over the world continue to tie the knot.

If you’re not married, engaged, or seriously dating someone whom you think you might marry, you may wonder at times if you will ever experience the joys and challenges of matrimony. Here are six things you can do in the meantime:

1. Seek the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Patience is one of the first things you will have to practice after getting married. This is pretty obvious to anyone who knows married people. The process of learning to live with someone for a lifetime is not easy; if that were the case, the divorce rate would be a lot lower than it is. You will also need lots of other fruits of the Holy Spirit if and when you get married someday—including love, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—because your spouse and you will each be living with a sinner! (Gal. 5:22–23).

2. Look for a potential spouse right around the corner.

Marrying someone from a faraway city or country is a relatively recent phenomenon in our more mobile and wired world. Throughout history, romantic love and marriage have usually taken place between people who lived in close proximity to each other. Click here regarding studies on proximity factors in selecting a spouse. Internet dating apps are an increasingly popular way to find that special someone. Still, you are most likely to marry someone you have spent some time with in your community, church, school, or workplace.

3. Stop looking for your perfect match.

Many people think that there is one person in the world with whom they are meant to be, and they must do everything they can to find that person. This kind of thinking can make people hesitant to commit to marriage because they fear they might be marrying the wrong person. While there are Bible verses that describe romantic love (see the story of Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 29 and the Song of Solomon), the Bible never corroborates the idea that there is one specific individual in the universe who is your perfect match. Holding on too much to this romantic idea can keep you from building a wonderful life with a worthy person you enjoy and love.

4. Don’t “let go and let God.”

It’s always nice if you can marry someone who likes the same things you enjoy. You will have more opportunities to meet that person by being actively engaged in life. For the most part, God works through ordinary, everyday events. Your daily vegetables don’t just appear on your table. Someone had to grow the produce and then get it to a market where you purchased it with money you earned. If you would like to be married, get out, go to work, learn new things, have fun, and circulate, and you will be more likely to meet a potential spouse who shares the same interests you have.

5. Think about ways to help others.

Helping people reorients your life, focusing your attention away from yourself and towards the needs of others. During the times of my life when I have felt discontented or discouraged, a good way out of it has always been to look for ways to help people in need, even in some small, seemingly insignificant way. Jesus encouraged his disciples that those who give someone a cold cup of water in his name will receive a reward (Matt. 10:42).

If Jesus values these small acts, they are important for all of us to do. Learning to serve others with a joyful heart is also great preparation for marriage, since married people do a lot of serving, whether that service is given to their spouse, children, or extended relatives.

6. Don’t trust social media; trust God.

It can be easy to look at social media postings and think that almost everyone else has the perfect life. They don’t; it just looks that way online. Of course, you know people who are worse off than yourself, but you may be focusing on your friends who are engaged, married, or married with children. It seems like you may never have that kind of life. Dwelling on what you don’t have can make you bitter and resentful toward God, instead of trusting in him (Prov. 3:5–6).

Remember that you are not seeing the whole story of a person’s life on Facebook or Instagram, so try not to compare. There is a reason why God tells us not to covet: it is a very destructive activity (Exod. 20:17). Pray to the Lord and let him know your fears and anxieties about the future. He wants you to lean on him (1 Pet. 5:7).

Remember that God has your good in mind.

When I was young, there was a popular saying, “All that glitters is not gold.” Marriages that start out well don’t always end that way. Don’t be tempted to rush into marrying someone because you think it will validate your own self-worth. God doesn't tell us everything he is doing, and sometimes we ask him for things that wouldn’t be good for us in the long run. Your end goal is not to find happiness on this earth but rather to bring glory to God in all (Rom. 11:36). You can trust that God hears your prayers and has both a purpose and his own timing in all he allows:

But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (Mic. 7:7)

God knows what he is doing, so you don’t have to be anxious about the future when it comes to finding a spouse (Ps. 28:7). Make the most of the opportunities you have to grow in your faith and serve and love others, wait on the Lord, and see what happens!

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

2 Marks of Righteous Anger — Ephesians 4:26

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

If you survey popular psychological literature, you’ll find that anger is often defined in negative terms. In an article at Psychology Today, for example, Hara Marano describes anger as a “negative experience so closely bound to pain and depression that it can sometimes be hard to know where one of these experiences ends and another begins.” In another article, Marano observes, “people have trouble managing anger and other negative emotions” (emphasis added). Yet, classifying anger as a negative emotion is not entirely accurate. Although anger can stem from unwholesome motives or be expressed in harmful, destructive ways, anger as such is not essentially negative or wrong.

We know that anger is not necessarily negative because God is described as one who is angry at the wicked every day (Ps. 5:5). Yes, the Old Testament speaks of God as “slow to anger” (Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:8) but the Scripture also contains several instances where God’s anger is the centerpiece of the narrative (Num. 25:4; 32:14). In the New Testament, Jesus was angry with the religious leaders for allowing the temple to become a place of trade (John 2:13-17) and for their unwillingness to show compassion on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5).

Anger, therefore, is not necessarily wrong or sinful. In God’s case, anger is the natural response of perfect holiness in the face of sin. God’s anger is always righteous anger.

But that’s God. What about us? Is it possible for Christians to exhibit righteous anger? The Bible acknowledges that our anger may be unrighteous (Col. 3:8; James 1:19), and our experience would attest that it often is. But the Scripture also teaches that it is possible for Christians to express righteous anger and that it is our responsibility to do so when circumstances call for it.

For example, Paul, quoting David from Psalm 4:4, instructs the Christians in Ephesus to “Be angry, but do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). In both texts, David and Paul are commanding their readers to be angry. How could they instruct such a thing? Because there are times when it is right and good and wholesome to be angry. Indeed, an absence of anger when a situation calls for it is likely a sign of moral indifference and apathy, not spiritual maturity.

But given our propensity to unrighteous anger, it is vital that we understand what constitutes righteous anger. Not every angry impulse flows from godly motivations, and not every expression of anger is warranted or appropriate. In the remaining portion of this article, we will consider the marks of righteous anger so that we might grow in our capacity to be angry over the right things and angry in the right ways.

Righteous anger is angry over the right things.

Often our anger is piqued because we’ve been maligned or mistreated. While there is a place for anger over personal mistreatment (Prov. 25:23), such anger easily swerves into a selfish concern over our own desires (see James 4:1-3). When it comes to petty offenses, Scripture instructs us to overlook them (Prov. 19:11).

But a sure mark that our anger is righteous is that it is roused when God’s glory is maligned and his name mistreated. David was angry because people in Israel were speaking against the Lord and likely dishonoring the Tabernacle and corporate worship in some way (Ps. 69:9). John quotes this verse and applies it to the Greater David after he found the temple overrun by commerce and fraudulent business practice. Jesus, acting in righteous anger, flipped over tables and chased the merchants away from the spectacle (John 2:17). Jesus was incensed when his Father was dishonored, not when he was dishonored. Indeed, Jesus endured severe mistreatment without ever becoming angry or vindictive toward his enemies or seeking his own restitution (see Luke 23:34). Righteous anger is anger that is riled when our gracious heavenly Father is slandered and his worship disgraced.

Righteous anger is also kindled when we encounter injustice perpetrated against fellow image-bearers. For example, when Jesus found a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, he knew the religious leaders were watching to see if he would conduct illegal “work” on the Sabbath. Knowing their thoughts, he asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” Their non-answer was damning. It should have been easy to answer this question: it is never lawful to harm someone, and it is always lawful to do good to someone, regardless of what day of the week it is. In their silence, Mark reports, “Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5). Jesus gets angry when people withhold or even desire to withhold good from others. This kind of anger is good and appropriate. It is also appropriate to be angry when godly people are disgraced—like Jonathan was when his father Saul spoke ill of David (1 Sam. 20:34).

The implication, then, is that our anger should be moved by real issues, not superficial ones. When Jonah was embittered over something insignificant, God questioned his right to be angry: “But God said to Jonah, ‘Do you do well to be angry for the plant’” (Jonah 4:9). Of course, Jonah didn’t have the right to be angry over the plant, despite his protests. Instead, he should have been concerned over the fate of Nineveh and its inhabitants.

It is good, therefore, to feel anger well up in our hearts when we hear and see people dishonor God with their lips and their lives. We should be incensed when we see people advocating for the murder of unborn children. We should be angry when we hear of people in places of authority using their power to harm, cheat, and steal from others. We should be angry when we are confronted with false teachers who are leading others astray.

But it’s not enough to have our anger motivated by the right reasons. Our anger must also be expressed in a godly way, or our anger will quickly downgrade to sinful wrath.

Righteous anger is angry in the right way.

Righteous anger is self-controlled anger. Although we may have a good reason to be angry—Christ was blasphemed, a fellow image bearer was mistreated, false teaching is wreaking havoc in people’s lives—we cannot allow that righteous anger to explode into a fury of harsh words and harmful violence. This means that righteous anger doesn’t merely vent itself (Prov. 29:11). Rather, those who are righteously angry will control their speech and their body (Prov. 14:17; 16:32), and channel that anger toward the problem rather than the person.

We’ve already seen how Jesus focused his anger on problems rather than people. Even in the table-turning episode in the temple, there is no indication that Jesus physically harmed anyone, but only that he removed from the temple that which didn’t belong there. Also, rather than calling down fire from heaven to incinerate the hard-hearted Pharisees, Jesus restored the man’s hand and continued to teach and heal.

Throughout his ministry, Paul demonstrates this practice of directing one’s anger to the problem rather than the person. For example, while in Macedonia, Paul, Timothy, Luke, and Silas were being harassed by a girl with a spirit of divination who would follow them and cry out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Paul eventually became “greatly annoyed” (which is a form of anger). But rather than turning to the girl and telling her to shut up and go away, or, worse, calling down a divine curse upon her, Paul deals with the problem and casts out the demonic spirit (Acts 16:18).

A few months later, while Paul was in Athens, he was provoked in his heart at the idolatry of the city. Again, to say that Paul was provoked is just another way of communicating that he was angry. What does the apostle do? Does he pick up a sword and start hacking away at the idols and the people? Does he berate the philosophers for their stupidity? No, he channeled his anger in an evangelistically productive direction: “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:17).

The implication is that righteous anger is not merely suppressed anger. Some may think it more godly to never express anger and, rather than channeling their anger in an appropriate direction, they bury it deep within their hearts and choose to ignore it. But when anger is not appropriately dealt with, over time the smoldering embers of one’s misdirected irritation either silently consumes them or explodes into an unbridled rage.

If we’ve been the object of some trivial wrongdoing, we should overlook it. But if our anger is piqued for a worthy reason, we should, with self-control, take action to channel that anger in a fruitful direction.

Anger is not to be the dominant flavor of the Christian life.

Overall, however, Scripture wouldn’t have anger be the dominant flavor of our lives. While self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, anger is not. Moreover, in Christ, Christians live in a perpetual state of God’s grace (Rom. 5:1-5). God’s anger no longer hovers over us because we’ve been forgiven of our sins (Col. 2:13). It is on the basis of this divine forgiveness that Paul instructs Christians to put away wrath and anger, and to be kind, tenderhearted, and ready to extend forgiveness to fellow sinners (Eph. 4:31-32). Like God, Christians should be slow to become angry over personal offenses, slights, insults, and inconveniences (Prov. 16:32; Eccl. 7:9).

Nevertheless, there is a time to be angry (Eccl. 3:8). When that time comes, we must make sure that we control our tongue, control our bodies, and direct our anger at problems rather than people.

This article is adapted from “‘Be Angry and Do Not Sin’: Two Marks of Righteous Anger” at withallwisdom.org.

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Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Jesus himself said that some matters of the law were weightier than others.

There is an important distinction between the most important commandment in the Law and the most important thing in all of Scripture.

The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the most important thing in all of Scripture—the gospel.

In many churches today the focus ends up drifting away from the gospel to other things.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about our best life now or our best world now.

The gospel is the good news of what has already been accomplished; it’s not a set of instructions or a to-do list.

If you ever feel discouraged about your lack of progress in the Christian life, let the words of 1 Corinthians 15 comfort you.

The most important thing in Scripture—the gospel—is also the Christian’s greatest comfort throughout the ups and downs of life.

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Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Monday, January 15, 2024

1. The Discipline of a Loving Father

2. We Are Weak and Dusty Creatures

3. God’s Love and Forgiveness in Christ Jesus

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Every human being is made in the image of God.

Every human being has worth and dignity in the sight of God.

Racism is a sin of pride.

Showing partiality is a sin.

We should love our neighbor as ourselves.

Christians should always seek the unity of the church.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

1. Remember the spiritual identity of the offending brother or sister.

2. Pray for the offending brother or sister.

3. Cover the offending brother or sister.

4. Confront the offending brother or sister.

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Wednesday, January 10, 2024

1. Seek the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

2. Look for a potential spouse right around the corner.

3. Stop looking for your perfect match.

4. Don’t “let go and let God.”

5. Think about ways to help others.

6. Don’t trust social media; trust God.

Remember that God has your good in mind.

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Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Righteous anger is angry over the right things.

Righteous anger is angry in the right way.

Anger is not to be the dominant flavor of the Christian life.

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