Two sets of five objectives. The first set is the Radical challenge outlined at the end of Radical by David Platt. The second set is personal goals of sin to get rid of and spiritual growth to do.
Set One: The Radical Challenge
1. Pray for the entire world
Get a list (from Monica Skinner) of all the countries of the world and pray for every single one of them, and not impersonal prayers, look up current events for the country and pray for specific things that they are dealing with.
2. Read through the ENTIRE Word
Read the bible, cover to cover, in one year (at least once). I plan on accomplishing this by reading my Chronological Bible in a Year. By the end of this year I will have (ideally) read through the entire New Testament already.
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
Parents and friends will not understand or endorse this one, but it is what we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to do. It is why God blessed me with lots of nice things and a place to live and freedom of religion and tons of money, it is to give it to those in need to make His glory known in all the world. (Read Radical Ch. 6)
4. Spend your time in another context
Same as last with understanding. I plan on spending my entire summer in either Miami or Asia on Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ.
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community
Commit your life to the Church. Yes, I did say THE CHURCH, not a church. If you do not understand, go to www.100Xchurch.com and watch the first four sermons on un-learning church. Anyway, I take this in the context of the phrase Summit Crossing is so fond of "doing life together". Get in a group of believers and serve the community, grow spiritually, and be accountable to each other.
Set two: Personal Self-Growth
1. Beat Lust in my life, completely and forthright.
This is a personal matter, it includes what most of you can guess, but to me it is more than just the obvious. This includes sexual-referencing jokes (especially "thats what she said"), making sure that my eyes are on girls eyes and not elsewhere, and yes, no masturbation (yes, I did just say that).
2. Stop using profanity, totally
This is a staged process that will begin with the big and obvious profanities and work its way down to words like "suck" (in the context of "such and such sucks") and idiot and stupid.
3. Stop judging others
This is one that I would dare say that every single human being struggles with (if you are perfect at this, props, seriously). Whether this is out loud or in your mind, judging others is a sin. It stems from Jesus' second most important commandment "love your neighbor".
4. Stop gossiping
A whole lot of people struggle with this one too, and yes, it does really fall under the last one, but it is different in my mind, so needs a separate one. This is not only an internal thing, it is an external thing. Not only do I not want to talk about anyone behind their back in either positive or negative light, I also do not want to be caught listening to someone else talk about someone else behind their back. So, I will be calling a lot of people out if you try, you have been warned.
5. Memorize AT LEAST 20 passages of the Bible
Whether this is one or two verses, like my favorite Proverbs 3:5-6 or 19 verses, like John 15:1-19, I want to have 20 solid, foundational Bible verses memorized for reference at will. This will help with all of the other goals, because "hiding His Word in our heart" is something that we are supposed to do, certainly not for God's sake, He wrote the Bible, but for our sake, to help us stay on that straight and narrow path.
Yes, I realize that these goals are very lofty, and I also acknowledge that I may not be able to accomplish all of them in a month or even in a year, but they are good life goals to strive toward, period. This is my Radical challenge to myself and I pray that you will be encouraged by this. I pray that you will support me in this endeavor and not halter me. I pray that you will forgive me and intercede for me when I fail at this. I pray that you will bear with me and forgive me when I call you out on profane jokes, profanity, gossiping, and judging others. I pray that you will call me out on these things so that I can know when it happens and immediately go to the Lord in prayer about it. But pray, just always pray.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Love Your Neighbor (Radical Chapter 6)
This is going to be a very long blog that is going to make a lot of people angry, but I take no remorse in these words. God broke my heart for this last night as I sat in tears reading this chapter to the very end. I do not claim to know everything about the following subjects or even to have them figured out completely in my life, but I know that my heart is now in the right place for this and if I do not get this off my chest I might explode.
"How much is enough?" American wealth and a world of poverty - Radical Chapter 6
A huge blind spot in many American's faith is a heart for the poor. As we live in unimaginable luxury here in America, we choose to ignore the ones around us who are starving and dying every day. Over 1 Billion people in this world live on the equivalent of less than a dollar a day. Over 2 Billion Others live on less than two dollars per day. This over 3 Billion people make up nearly half of the world's population. "More than twenty-six thousand children today will breath their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease." What if one of those children was your child? Really put yourself in their place, these children have parents who literally have no means of providing for themselves or their children, and they can do nothing to stop their children from dying right their in their arms. So, I will ask it again, what if that was your child? If you don't have a child, what if that were your best friend, girlfriend, mom, dad, uncle, brother, or sister? These people are dying all over the world, and what is perhaps even more heartbreaking than that, is that they are all dying and going to Hell because almost none of them have ever had the opportunity to hear of the Gospel. And here we sit, most of us, doing nothing to help them. In regards to that, Platt says "But they do exist. Not only do they exist, but God takes very seriously how I respond to them. The book of Proverbs warns about curses that come upon those who ignore the poor. The prophets warn of God's judgment and devastation for those who neglect the poor. Jesus pronounces woes upon the wealthy who trust in their riches, and James tells those who hoard their money and live in self-indulgence to 'weep and wail because of the misery that is coming' upon them. In a humbling passage, Jesus says to those who turn away from him by ignoring the physical needs of his people, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" "The means of our salvation is faith in Christ alone, and the basis of our salvation is the work of Christ alone." "But the reality is, if you and I have running water, shelter over our heads, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation (even if it's public transportation), then we are in the top 15 percent of the world's people for wealth." This does not include having money for luxuries like spare clothes, expensive meals, cars, cameras, video games, televisions, jewelry, computers, internet, cable, telephones, cell phones, books, electricity, the list goes on. Just by having running water, any kind of shelter over our heads, even if that is just a trailer or a tent, clothes to wear, even if they do not fit and have holes in them, and some way of getting around, even taking the bus, we are more wealthy than 85% of the world's population. How misplaced are the funds of the American Christian community? Platt tells a heart-breaking story to put it into perspective "One evening I was meeting with an underground house church overseas, and we were discussing various issues in Scripture. A woman who lived in the city and knew some English shared. 'I have a television, and every once in a while I am able to get stations from the United States,' she said. 'Some of these stations have church services on them. I see the preachers, and they are dressed in very nice clothes, and they are preaching in very nice buildings. Some of them even tell me that if I have faith, I too can have nice things.' She paused before continuing. 'When I come to our church meetings, I look around, and most of us are very poor, and we are meeting here at great risk to our lives.' Then she looked at me and asked, 'Does this mean we do not have enough faith?'" Hmm, this goes back to another chapter where Platt tells of how little many Americans appreciate their ability to meet about God freely and in public. Anyway, he is saying here that we, as Americans, are "implicitly exporting a theology that equates faith in christ with prosperity in this world." That is just wrong. Before Jesus came and died for our sins, there was a reason for building elaborate temples, to make sacrifices to put off the sins of the people until Jesus came. God commanded them to build these temples occasionally. But nowhere in the New Testament will you see God or Jesus commanding their people to build elaborate temples or buildings of any kind to have worship, not directly or through one of the prophets. So, I have to ask, where have Americans gotten this idea that success in the church should be completely measured by how big of a building you have and how many people you can cram into that building on Sunday mornings? Thing I am talking nonsense? "Every year in the United States (alone), we spend more than $10 BILLION on church buildings. In America alone, the amount of real estate owned by institutional churches is worth OVER $230 BILLION." And this also breaks my heart and makes me ask the question: What if all that money had been spent on helping the poor and the sick and the starving and the thirsty and all those children and adults that are dying every day from starvation and preventable diseases? Is there anything wrong with just holding smaller church meetings in many more locations like public parks or people's houses? There is no law in America against meeting in public areas, or public parks even (to my knowledge). We have complete and total freedom of religion and how do we choose to spend all of the money that our communities of believers raise? On gigantic, elaborate buildings to meet in. Now let me make another thing clear here, I am not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with having a building to meet in for church on Sunday mornings. I am just saying that there is no reason to build these huge, overly elaborate buildings that, largely, only serve as meeting places. The only way I can see justifying having such a large building would be as a base of missions, that is, a storage facility for things like donated clothes and food that is then re-distributed by the church community to those who are in need of them. Or as a command center for getting the paperwork done to go out of country on missions and to adopt these children who are dying. And what about on a personal level? Are we all actually called to sell everything that we have and give it to the poor? No, God delights in pouring out blessings on his children, but He does it for the benefit of making His glory known in all nations, not for you to hoard the wealth you have been given for your own purposes. But the bigger question here is not whether or not we are told by Jesus to sell everything we have, it is whether or not we trust Jesus completely. Let me backtrack slightly to quote Platt again: "However, Jesus was not, and never is, interested in being seen as a respectable teacher. He is the sovereign Lord. He doesn't give options for people to consider; he gives commands for people to obey....Now, before you and I think of all the reasons he would not tell us to do these things, we need to think about this question first: is he Lord?...are we looking to Jesus for total leadership in our lives[?]...He always intends to be the voice that guides whatever decisions we make in our lives and with our money." Platt then tells a story about a man in his church, who, after hearing a sermon on the rich young ruler, began to sell everything he had, downsize, downgrade, and get down to the bare minimums. I will just skip to the end of the story, which brought me to tears last night "Then he looked at me through tears in his eyes and said, 'I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise. But then I realize there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and he looks at me and says, I wish you would have kept more for yourself. I'm confident that God will take care of me.'" If that doesn't just say it all and put it all into perspective. Jesus constantly teaches of how he takes care of those who are doing his work in the world. The gospels are filled with imagry of how God clothes and feeds wild animals and plants and how much more valuable are we to God than these? Therefore, how much more will God provide for us than for these plants? Jesus also states numerous times not to worry, about anything. Need more proof? Read 1 Timothy 6. And then ask yourself this question "am I willing to live a life that is content with food and clothing, having the basic necessities of my life provided for? Or do I want more?" Platt then uses the example of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, to show what this means in a real world perspective. And it boils down to the previous question. If you make $160,000/year and you can pay your bills and put food on your table and keep a roof over your head with $20,000/year, give the other $140,000 to the poor, who need it far more than you do. And this is probably a far reach from how much most of us make, but it is just an example. I just pray that after reading this, you will take a long hard look at the way you are living. Take a look at the house you live in and ask yourself if that house is more house than you need. Look at your car(s) and ask yourself if that car is more than you need. Look at the food you are eating and ask yourself if you could survive on simpler and less expensive food. Look at the things that your house is filled with and ask yourself if you really need all of these things. And before you go out and buy something else that is just a luxury, something else that you do not actually need to live on, ask yourself how many poor starving children in other countries you could keep alive with that money. Children that are just as precious and dear to someone as that someone in your life that is so precious and dear to you. Because it all comes back to where you are storing up your riches. Are your riches here on earth, or are they in heaven? Do you want nice things and luxuries here on earth where they will last you no longer than your life span (around 100 years tops), or do you want nice things in heaven, where things never expire and all your luxuries will last for an eternity?
"How much is enough?" American wealth and a world of poverty - Radical Chapter 6
A huge blind spot in many American's faith is a heart for the poor. As we live in unimaginable luxury here in America, we choose to ignore the ones around us who are starving and dying every day. Over 1 Billion people in this world live on the equivalent of less than a dollar a day. Over 2 Billion Others live on less than two dollars per day. This over 3 Billion people make up nearly half of the world's population. "More than twenty-six thousand children today will breath their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease." What if one of those children was your child? Really put yourself in their place, these children have parents who literally have no means of providing for themselves or their children, and they can do nothing to stop their children from dying right their in their arms. So, I will ask it again, what if that was your child? If you don't have a child, what if that were your best friend, girlfriend, mom, dad, uncle, brother, or sister? These people are dying all over the world, and what is perhaps even more heartbreaking than that, is that they are all dying and going to Hell because almost none of them have ever had the opportunity to hear of the Gospel. And here we sit, most of us, doing nothing to help them. In regards to that, Platt says "But they do exist. Not only do they exist, but God takes very seriously how I respond to them. The book of Proverbs warns about curses that come upon those who ignore the poor. The prophets warn of God's judgment and devastation for those who neglect the poor. Jesus pronounces woes upon the wealthy who trust in their riches, and James tells those who hoard their money and live in self-indulgence to 'weep and wail because of the misery that is coming' upon them. In a humbling passage, Jesus says to those who turn away from him by ignoring the physical needs of his people, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" "The means of our salvation is faith in Christ alone, and the basis of our salvation is the work of Christ alone." "But the reality is, if you and I have running water, shelter over our heads, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation (even if it's public transportation), then we are in the top 15 percent of the world's people for wealth." This does not include having money for luxuries like spare clothes, expensive meals, cars, cameras, video games, televisions, jewelry, computers, internet, cable, telephones, cell phones, books, electricity, the list goes on. Just by having running water, any kind of shelter over our heads, even if that is just a trailer or a tent, clothes to wear, even if they do not fit and have holes in them, and some way of getting around, even taking the bus, we are more wealthy than 85% of the world's population. How misplaced are the funds of the American Christian community? Platt tells a heart-breaking story to put it into perspective "One evening I was meeting with an underground house church overseas, and we were discussing various issues in Scripture. A woman who lived in the city and knew some English shared. 'I have a television, and every once in a while I am able to get stations from the United States,' she said. 'Some of these stations have church services on them. I see the preachers, and they are dressed in very nice clothes, and they are preaching in very nice buildings. Some of them even tell me that if I have faith, I too can have nice things.' She paused before continuing. 'When I come to our church meetings, I look around, and most of us are very poor, and we are meeting here at great risk to our lives.' Then she looked at me and asked, 'Does this mean we do not have enough faith?'" Hmm, this goes back to another chapter where Platt tells of how little many Americans appreciate their ability to meet about God freely and in public. Anyway, he is saying here that we, as Americans, are "implicitly exporting a theology that equates faith in christ with prosperity in this world." That is just wrong. Before Jesus came and died for our sins, there was a reason for building elaborate temples, to make sacrifices to put off the sins of the people until Jesus came. God commanded them to build these temples occasionally. But nowhere in the New Testament will you see God or Jesus commanding their people to build elaborate temples or buildings of any kind to have worship, not directly or through one of the prophets. So, I have to ask, where have Americans gotten this idea that success in the church should be completely measured by how big of a building you have and how many people you can cram into that building on Sunday mornings? Thing I am talking nonsense? "Every year in the United States (alone), we spend more than $10 BILLION on church buildings. In America alone, the amount of real estate owned by institutional churches is worth OVER $230 BILLION." And this also breaks my heart and makes me ask the question: What if all that money had been spent on helping the poor and the sick and the starving and the thirsty and all those children and adults that are dying every day from starvation and preventable diseases? Is there anything wrong with just holding smaller church meetings in many more locations like public parks or people's houses? There is no law in America against meeting in public areas, or public parks even (to my knowledge). We have complete and total freedom of religion and how do we choose to spend all of the money that our communities of believers raise? On gigantic, elaborate buildings to meet in. Now let me make another thing clear here, I am not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with having a building to meet in for church on Sunday mornings. I am just saying that there is no reason to build these huge, overly elaborate buildings that, largely, only serve as meeting places. The only way I can see justifying having such a large building would be as a base of missions, that is, a storage facility for things like donated clothes and food that is then re-distributed by the church community to those who are in need of them. Or as a command center for getting the paperwork done to go out of country on missions and to adopt these children who are dying. And what about on a personal level? Are we all actually called to sell everything that we have and give it to the poor? No, God delights in pouring out blessings on his children, but He does it for the benefit of making His glory known in all nations, not for you to hoard the wealth you have been given for your own purposes. But the bigger question here is not whether or not we are told by Jesus to sell everything we have, it is whether or not we trust Jesus completely. Let me backtrack slightly to quote Platt again: "However, Jesus was not, and never is, interested in being seen as a respectable teacher. He is the sovereign Lord. He doesn't give options for people to consider; he gives commands for people to obey....Now, before you and I think of all the reasons he would not tell us to do these things, we need to think about this question first: is he Lord?...are we looking to Jesus for total leadership in our lives[?]...He always intends to be the voice that guides whatever decisions we make in our lives and with our money." Platt then tells a story about a man in his church, who, after hearing a sermon on the rich young ruler, began to sell everything he had, downsize, downgrade, and get down to the bare minimums. I will just skip to the end of the story, which brought me to tears last night "Then he looked at me through tears in his eyes and said, 'I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise. But then I realize there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and he looks at me and says, I wish you would have kept more for yourself. I'm confident that God will take care of me.'" If that doesn't just say it all and put it all into perspective. Jesus constantly teaches of how he takes care of those who are doing his work in the world. The gospels are filled with imagry of how God clothes and feeds wild animals and plants and how much more valuable are we to God than these? Therefore, how much more will God provide for us than for these plants? Jesus also states numerous times not to worry, about anything. Need more proof? Read 1 Timothy 6. And then ask yourself this question "am I willing to live a life that is content with food and clothing, having the basic necessities of my life provided for? Or do I want more?" Platt then uses the example of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, to show what this means in a real world perspective. And it boils down to the previous question. If you make $160,000/year and you can pay your bills and put food on your table and keep a roof over your head with $20,000/year, give the other $140,000 to the poor, who need it far more than you do. And this is probably a far reach from how much most of us make, but it is just an example. I just pray that after reading this, you will take a long hard look at the way you are living. Take a look at the house you live in and ask yourself if that house is more house than you need. Look at your car(s) and ask yourself if that car is more than you need. Look at the food you are eating and ask yourself if you could survive on simpler and less expensive food. Look at the things that your house is filled with and ask yourself if you really need all of these things. And before you go out and buy something else that is just a luxury, something else that you do not actually need to live on, ask yourself how many poor starving children in other countries you could keep alive with that money. Children that are just as precious and dear to someone as that someone in your life that is so precious and dear to you. Because it all comes back to where you are storing up your riches. Are your riches here on earth, or are they in heaven? Do you want nice things and luxuries here on earth where they will last you no longer than your life span (around 100 years tops), or do you want nice things in heaven, where things never expire and all your luxuries will last for an eternity?
Discipleship (Radical Chapter 5)
"Regardless of hat country we live in, what skills we possess, what kind of education we have, or what kind of salary we make, Jesus has commanded each of us to make disciples, and this is the means by which we will impact the world. Indeed, Jesus has invited us to join him in the surprisingly simple journey of spreading the gospel to all nations by spending our lives for the good of others and the glory of God." I like to quote others because they put things into words far better than I do. To quote Lecrae "The teaching is a process, it's not over night, yeah its life on life". During our savior Jesus Christ's time here on our earth, He spent all of his time and effort pouring into twelve men whom he called disciples, apostles, brothers, and friends. Think about that, out of all the hundreds of sick and wounded he healed, the thousands that he fed, and the tens of thousands that he taught, when it is all said and done, Jesus spent his entire adult life on this earth with these twelve men. He tolerated their misunderstandings, he forgave them for their sins, he ate, drank, slept, and walked daily with these men. And in doing so, Jesus left a legacy, for He commanded these twelve (or ten, Judas Iscariot betrayed him, and Peter disowned him) to go and take the teachings that He had taught them to all the nations. But it is also important to note that they were not alone in their journey, they had each other, and, more importantly, they had the Holy Spirit within them. So, how do you go about making disciples? Depending on how you look at it, there are several easy ways to accomplish this simple command and vision of Jesus. The most "comfortable" to most of us Americans is to simply stay here in America and try to create disciples of those around you. This is simple in the aspect that you get to stay (relatively) inside your comfort zone. It is difficult in that most people here in America have already heard of the Gospel in some form or another, and many have hardened their heart to it because of the bad example that is set by our culture in regards to Christians. In this aspect, you can spend a lot of time just trying to get one disciple, but if you do, it is worth it. Once you have found someone who genuinely wants to learn about the gospel, is it easier to try to get them to meet with an "expert" once a week and sign them up for the next available "class" at the church, or is it easier to just invite them into your life, into your personal quiet time with God, your routine? The former might be easier, but the latter is what we are really supposed to be doing, because that is the example that Jesus set. Now, on the other hand, you can go out into the world and find numerous disciples in other countries where people have never had the opportunity to hear of the Gospel. This is easy from the aspect that not many have hardened hearts to the gospel and are generally pretty open to hearing the Gospel if for no other reason than it is new information. It is difficult because of getting out of your comfort zone and going to impoverished places (also, language barriers usually tend to get in the way). Either way, making disciples is what we, not even so much as Americans, but as followers of Jesus Christ, are commanded to go forth and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all of God's commands. As Platt puts it "Disciple making is not about a program or an event but about a relationship. As we share the gospel, we impart life, and this is the essence of making disciples. Sharing the life of Christ." Platt also goes into great detail about why baptism is a crucial part of becoming a disciple. Baptism is a public declaration of your faith to a community of fellow believers, so that you can get help from the community in your walk with Jesus. It is important that you grow spiritually if you are going to help others grow. So, you should always be a reciprocator and not a receiver. Those who receive teachings (on Sunday, Bible study, whatever), should actively engage in the teaching. "It is multiplying because the people of God are no longer listening as if his Word is intended to stop with them. They are now living as if God's Word is intended to spread through them." My favorite concept from this chapter is 'Discipling or Disinfecting?'. I will end quoting Platt in full here: "Whereas disinfecting Christians involves isolating them and teaching them to be good, discipling Christians involves propelling Christians into the world to risk their lives for the sake of others. Now the world is our focus, and we gauge success in the church not on the hundreds or thousands whom we can get into our buildings but on the hundreds or thousands who are leaving our buildings to take on the world with the disciples they are making...Disciple making takes place multiple times every week in multiple locations by an army of men and women sharing, showing, and teaching the Word of Christ and together serving a world in need of Christ."
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
World Missions (Radical Ch.4)
Well, I am going to try to do justice to Radical chapter 4 by David Platt and mix in some of my insight (or lack thereof), but really, you just need to get a copy of Radical and read it for yourself.
World Missions, Chapter 4
"David, I think it's great your are going to those places. But if you ask me, I would just as soon God annihilate all those people and send them to hell." A deacon of a church said these words to David Platt just casually, flat out, with no remorse. Can you imagine, after reading my last blog about Hell, anyone wanting anyone to ever go to such a horrible place? The first few pages of this chapter talk about how too many churches here in America are focused on all the wrong things and have their hearts in the wrong places. Far too many of them spend their time giving sermons that have no Biblical grounds at all, just talking about politics in a religious setting. And too many churches spend a good deal of their money supporting other people and churches to go on missions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, supporting people who are doing the work of God, but shouldn't they also be doing the work of God in other nations? The fundamental reason why God created us was to have intimate relationships with Him and to further His glory. "God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth." Think about that, the whole reason we were created, the reason God has blessed you enough to be able to have food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and apparently a computer to read this on is all for the sake of His own glory. "If that is true, we may wonder, then does this make God selfish? How can God's purpose be to exalt himself? This is a good question, and it causes us to pause until we ask the follow-up question: Whom else would we have him exalt? At the very moment God exalted someone or something else, he would no longer be the great God worthy of all glory in all the universe, which he is." Platt redefines Christianity in every chapter of this book. In this chapter he asks what the message of Christianity is to a typical American believer. The answer is usually something along the lines of "God/Jesus loves me", which means that the object of Christianity is me. How conceited do you get? "The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him-his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness-known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him." Doesn't this make a lot more sense? There is actually a section in this chapter titled "I'm not called" which is simply awesome. I have never liked or believed in sayings like this, they just sound stupid and really make no sense to me. When a Christian says that they are not "called" to teach the Good News to others, in any way, shape or form, at any time, for any reason, they are fundamentally reducing a Command and turning it into a Calling. No where in the Bible will you find someone saying this. Where would the disciples been if they had taken this mindset? No, it is very clear in the Bible, Jesus very directly states numerous times, that we are commanded to go forth and make disciples of all nations. This is a command, and you cannot just reduce it to a calling because it is inconvenient to what you are doing at the time. I will quote it again "every saved person this side of Heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of Hell." I think that is a good motto for every Christian and follower of Jesus to take on. In this section, Platt rightly gives several examples of how Americans have twisted the Bible in that the blessings and good things listed in Scripture are meant for all believers, but the hard things and the commands are only meant for a select few. This is comparable, in my mind, wanting to have a job just for the paycheck. You really do not care about the job or want to do the work, you just want the paycheck, and that is what Americans are doing to the Bible. We want all the good stuff, but leave that hard stuff, the fundamental commands and teachings of Jesus to just a select few. *buzzer* WRONG! Some people use the excuse, "But what about the needs/people here?". Platt really does cover all of his bases in this book. Yes, the need here in America for real disciples and for homeless and hungry is also great, but are you really doing something about the needs here either? If you are not 'called' to go overseas to third-world countries, are you going out to the projects and the bad parts of the towns and cities that you live in here? Are you giving money to the homeless, sheltering those who have no home, feeding the hungry, giving water to those without any? Are taking the Good News into the places here in America that are hurting and in need of help? Another problem with looking at it this way is that only 5% of the world's population lives in the United States, so by saying that you only have a heart for the United States, you are ignoring the needs of the other 95% of people in the world. *buzzer* and there is our problem as Americans, we use excuse after excuse after excuse and reduce commands down to callings and in the end, most Americans Christians are really just not following the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. And if you are, then I commend you and ask that you continue doing so. Platt gives three good examples of average Americans who are making a difference. In doing so he shows that you do not have to give up everything you have and all of your comforts and blessings to follow the Great Commission, only that you make small sacrifices and help those who are in need. I will end my rant with one of the last paragraphs of the chapter: "So what might this look like in your life? As we explore what it means to be radically abandoned to Christ, I invite you simply to let your heart be gripped, maybe for the first time, by the biblical prospect that God has designed a radically global purpose for your life. I invite you to throw aside gospel-less reasoning that might prevent you from accomplishing that purpose. I invite you to consider with me what it would mean for all of us-pastors and church members, businessmen and businesswomen, lawyers and doctors, consultants and construction workers, teachers and students, on-the-go professionals and stay-at-home moms-to spend all of our lives for the sake of all of God's glory in all of the world."
World Missions, Chapter 4
"David, I think it's great your are going to those places. But if you ask me, I would just as soon God annihilate all those people and send them to hell." A deacon of a church said these words to David Platt just casually, flat out, with no remorse. Can you imagine, after reading my last blog about Hell, anyone wanting anyone to ever go to such a horrible place? The first few pages of this chapter talk about how too many churches here in America are focused on all the wrong things and have their hearts in the wrong places. Far too many of them spend their time giving sermons that have no Biblical grounds at all, just talking about politics in a religious setting. And too many churches spend a good deal of their money supporting other people and churches to go on missions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, supporting people who are doing the work of God, but shouldn't they also be doing the work of God in other nations? The fundamental reason why God created us was to have intimate relationships with Him and to further His glory. "God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth." Think about that, the whole reason we were created, the reason God has blessed you enough to be able to have food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and apparently a computer to read this on is all for the sake of His own glory. "If that is true, we may wonder, then does this make God selfish? How can God's purpose be to exalt himself? This is a good question, and it causes us to pause until we ask the follow-up question: Whom else would we have him exalt? At the very moment God exalted someone or something else, he would no longer be the great God worthy of all glory in all the universe, which he is." Platt redefines Christianity in every chapter of this book. In this chapter he asks what the message of Christianity is to a typical American believer. The answer is usually something along the lines of "God/Jesus loves me", which means that the object of Christianity is me. How conceited do you get? "The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him-his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness-known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him." Doesn't this make a lot more sense? There is actually a section in this chapter titled "I'm not called" which is simply awesome. I have never liked or believed in sayings like this, they just sound stupid and really make no sense to me. When a Christian says that they are not "called" to teach the Good News to others, in any way, shape or form, at any time, for any reason, they are fundamentally reducing a Command and turning it into a Calling. No where in the Bible will you find someone saying this. Where would the disciples been if they had taken this mindset? No, it is very clear in the Bible, Jesus very directly states numerous times, that we are commanded to go forth and make disciples of all nations. This is a command, and you cannot just reduce it to a calling because it is inconvenient to what you are doing at the time. I will quote it again "every saved person this side of Heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of Hell." I think that is a good motto for every Christian and follower of Jesus to take on. In this section, Platt rightly gives several examples of how Americans have twisted the Bible in that the blessings and good things listed in Scripture are meant for all believers, but the hard things and the commands are only meant for a select few. This is comparable, in my mind, wanting to have a job just for the paycheck. You really do not care about the job or want to do the work, you just want the paycheck, and that is what Americans are doing to the Bible. We want all the good stuff, but leave that hard stuff, the fundamental commands and teachings of Jesus to just a select few. *buzzer* WRONG! Some people use the excuse, "But what about the needs/people here?". Platt really does cover all of his bases in this book. Yes, the need here in America for real disciples and for homeless and hungry is also great, but are you really doing something about the needs here either? If you are not 'called' to go overseas to third-world countries, are you going out to the projects and the bad parts of the towns and cities that you live in here? Are you giving money to the homeless, sheltering those who have no home, feeding the hungry, giving water to those without any? Are taking the Good News into the places here in America that are hurting and in need of help? Another problem with looking at it this way is that only 5% of the world's population lives in the United States, so by saying that you only have a heart for the United States, you are ignoring the needs of the other 95% of people in the world. *buzzer* and there is our problem as Americans, we use excuse after excuse after excuse and reduce commands down to callings and in the end, most Americans Christians are really just not following the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. And if you are, then I commend you and ask that you continue doing so. Platt gives three good examples of average Americans who are making a difference. In doing so he shows that you do not have to give up everything you have and all of your comforts and blessings to follow the Great Commission, only that you make small sacrifices and help those who are in need. I will end my rant with one of the last paragraphs of the chapter: "So what might this look like in your life? As we explore what it means to be radically abandoned to Christ, I invite you simply to let your heart be gripped, maybe for the first time, by the biblical prospect that God has designed a radically global purpose for your life. I invite you to throw aside gospel-less reasoning that might prevent you from accomplishing that purpose. I invite you to consider with me what it would mean for all of us-pastors and church members, businessmen and businesswomen, lawyers and doctors, consultants and construction workers, teachers and students, on-the-go professionals and stay-at-home moms-to spend all of our lives for the sake of all of God's glory in all of the world."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)