Tad's Life

So I've had the thought to try to share with my teammates some of the things I'm reading and some of the thoughts I've had about ministry and theology. Since this blog seems to have passed away quietly with the advent of Facebook, I thought perhaps I could hide such things here!

The first installment is a longish selection from How People Change, a book I picked up last summer and have been reading in spurts. It reminds me a lot of the Sonship course (but uses a very different extended analogy that kind of put me off a bit at first). I don’t think Lane and Tripp are connected to Sonship, but the Gospel, of course, is still the Gospel!

Recently I picked the book back up and found myself really drawn in by the later chapters. This example (confession!) from chapter 12 felt like they had been spying on me! As they say, "If I am new on the inside, why does it feel like so little has changed?"

They go on to address the central question of the title.

Clearly in the debate about whether the key to growth is zeal/discipline or brokenness/repentance, I’m for repentance as a way of life.

 

Daily Christian Living

 Why is it so important to understand this work of the Holy Spirit? Because we still struggle against sin. In chapter 3, we considered the great hope of our inevitable glorification, when we will be completely changed into the likeness of Christ. In chapter 11, we looked at God’s work of regeneration --the way Christ’s death for our sins makes us new creatures with new hearts. The process has already begun, and, in terms of our standing with God, it is already complete.

But if you are like me, you know that the reality of this great new life bumps up against the present reality where sin is all around us and the remnants of sin remain in us as well. You may be asking, “If all of these things about the Spirit are true, why do I and so many other Christians struggle so much with sin? If I am new on the inside, why does it feel like so little has changed?"

This is exactly why it is so important to understand the Spirit’s ongoing work. He connects our hearts and minds to Jesus and all he has done for us. The Holy Spirit comes to help us to live Cross-centered lives. The reason we need to see Christ daily can be seen in many moments of everyday life. The following story is an example of my own.

The Real World, Take One

I like comfort. No, l love comfort! After a hard day’s work, l head for home, looking forward to a nice, quiet time to rest and relax, The Heat of my life prompts me to want a time of respite from life’s cares. Now, there is nothing wrong with comfort. God wove the blessing of rest and leisure into the fabric of his creation. God himself rested on the seventh day.

But as l am marinating in the prospect of comfort, something happens. My heart begins to morph along the lines of Romans 1:25. Something good becomes an object of worship, replacing the only true God in my heart, I don’t just think about enjoying a good thing, l begin to feel entitled to it. After all, haven’t l worked hard all day? l deserve a break! I treasure it and meditate on it. By the time I pull into my driveway, I have already been seduced by comfort, and I willingly place myself in its arms. Comfort is no longer a good thing to be properly enjoyed, but something I want more than God.

As I walk into our house, my idol of comfort is immediately threatened! Two of my children come running to me. They don’t greet me with hugs, but with complaints that the other is not sharing the computer. In the middle of their complaining, my other two children request help with their homework. My wife completes the scene by saying that she is tired from working all day too. It’s up to me to sort things out.

When comfort is reigning supreme in my heart, a scene like this turns me into a drill sergeant. I turn to the first two children and say, “You let your sister have it for thirty minutes, and then you can use it for thirty minutes!” I am harsh and forceful. If they protest, I get louder. I may even threaten to turn the computer off. As soon as these two “comfort robbers” are squashed, I turn to the other two children and bark out commands about their homework. If they protest, I can use the same strategies that seemed to work so well with the first two kids. Now that all four children are acting decently and in order, I have time for a few choice words for my wife. “How come you didn’t handle this before I walked in the door? I don’t deserve to come home and be barraged with this nonsense after working hard all day!” At this, my wife may have some provocative words of her own to share!

What has happened? My heart has been entangled in sin, and it is showing in my behavior. My object of worship has been comfort instead of God, and this vertical orientation quickly expresses itself in my horizontal relationships with my family. I use control to get what I want, sinning against my family and dishonoring God. I break commandments 4-I0 because I have already broken commandments 1-3 on the way home. I have allowed something other than God to reign in my life. My worship needs to be radically reoriented so that I can love my family in ways that bless them and honor God. This can only happen if I live a Cross-centered life.

The Cross-Centered Life

What do I mean by a Cross-centered life? Notice how Paul uses the language of the Cross throughout his letters, In I Corinthians 1:23 he says, “But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” In I Corinthians 2: 1-2 he says, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” In Colossians 1:28-29 he says, “We proclaim him [Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."

When Paul says that he focuses on the crucifixion, this is his shorthand summary for the entire work of Christ. He isn’t saying that he only teaches people about Jesus’ death. If you look at Paul’s teaching along with the other biblical writers, it includes everything from Jesus’ heavenly glory, the incarnation, his life of suffering and obedience, his death on the Cross, his resurrection, his ascension, his present intercession on our behalf, and his future return! When Paul and the other biblical writers focus on the cross, they do it to emphasize that, without Jesus’ sacrificial death for sin, none of the other benefits that are ours in Christ would be possible! We needed a substitute. So when we talk about living a Cross-centered life, we include everything about Jesus, his work on our behalf, and all the benefits we enjoy because of him: our election, calling, regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, and ultimate glorification.

Let’s start by thinking about it this way. All of us live our lives based on some identity, some functional sense of who we are, what we are like, and what we are worth. Most of us are not particularly aware of our view of ourselves, but it nevertheless determines how we will respond to everything we face during the day-especially to the Heat in our lives.

Many Christians have very little idea of what it means to live a Cross-centered life. How about you7 How much of the way you view yourself is shaped by what Jesus did for you on the Cross? When you awaken each morning, what functional identity shapes the way you face the day? Is your identity grounded in what you do or certain skills you possess? “I am a businesswoman.” “I am a pastor.” “I am a parent.” Notice how these things begin to function as identities rather than callings. Or do you define yourself in light of a past event? “I am a survivor of sexual abuse.” “I am an alcoholic.” “I am a person who grew up in a dysfunctional family.” Maybe you define yourself in light of a current struggle. “I am depressed.” “I am bipolar.” “I am an angry person.”

While a Christian should never minimize personal gifts, past problems, or current struggles, these do not displace his or her more fundamental identity of being in Christ. “I am a new creation in Christ who happens to be a businesswoman, pastor, or parent.” Jesus defines me, not my particular calling or vocation. “I am a Christian who was hurt by someone in my past, who struggles with depression, who struggles with anger.” My fundamental identity in the Cross of Christ supersedes whatever struggle I am going through now.

Do you know what it means to live a Cross-centered life on a daily basis? Some Christians think that the Cross is what you need to become a Christian and get to heaven. They think, I need my sins forgiven so that I escape God’s judgment when I die. But once that is taken care of, what matters is that I follow Christ’s example. I need to roll up my sleeves and get to work! The tricky thing about this perspective is that it is partially correct. Once you become a Christian, you do participate in your ongoing growth. You do actively pursue the obedience that comes from faith (see Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Gal, 516). You do engage in spiritual warfare! However, you are never to minimize your continuing need for the mercy and power of Christ in the process of becoming like him.

The Normal Christian Life?

Consider Andy, who became a Christian five years ago. For the first three years, Andy woke up early every morning to pray and read his Bible for an hour. He faithfully sought out fellowship with other Christians and shared his new faith regularly, But for the past two years, Andy has struggled with guilt. He has grown distant from his Christian friends and lost his incentive to talk to others about Christ. In addition, Andy has begun to struggle with overeating. Occasionally he will visit Internet shopping sites and buy needless items online. He says it picks him up when he is down. In other words, Andy has slipped back into habits that dominated him before he became a Christian.

Andy’s friends say that his problems started about the same time he missed his first quiet time, Therefore, Andy has redoubled his efforts to read his Bible and pray, but it just doesn’t seem the same. The Bible seems dull, and his mind wanders when he prays. What has gone wrong? Most would conclude, like Andy’s friends, that he has grown lazy and that he is not using the things God has provided to help him grow: the Bible, prayer, fellowship, ministry, and service. And it’s true: These are factors that have contributed to Andy’s slow downward spiral.

But Andy’s problem is much deeper than that. In fact, his problems started long before he missed his first quiet time. What happened is that Andy lost sight of his need for the Cross of Christ almost as soon as he became a Christian. If you had known Andy during the first three years of his Christian life, when he was faithfully engaging in the basic Christian disciplines, you would have met a confident and impatient man who rebuked others for struggling with their personal devotions or witnessing.

Although Andy had come to Christ for salvation, acknowledging that he was lost and without hope except for the mercy of Christ, he quickly began to live as if progress in the Christian life was all up to him. “Jesus got me in, and I have to do the rest” was Andy’s functional identity. “It’s all up to me.” For the first three years, he was proud because he was working hard to grow. He saw very little need for the Cross of Christ because he had already been forgiven. His sense of acceptance before God had quickly shifted from what Christ had done for him to what he was doing for Christ. Because he was successful, he tended to be self-righteous, judgmental toward those less disciplined, and defensive when criticized.

In the last two years, the external behaviors have changed, but the problem is the same. Instead of being proud of his righteous efforts, Andy is ashamed, guilty, depressed at times, and easily attracted by old temptations. He feels like a failure because he can no longer keep up the routine. What is Andy’s real problem? In both phases of his Christian life, the work of Christ on the Cross was radically minimized by Andy’s own efforts. The first three years evidenced a Christless activism that produced pride and self-sufficiency. While this may not appear that bad on the outside, it is as dangerous as Andy’s recent behavior of Christless passivity, which has produced guilt, depression, and a host of bad habits.

The sad fact is that Andy is typical of many believers who begin the Christian life with a clear understanding of their need for Christ but quickly lose sight of how central Christ must be throughout it. If Andy had kept the Cross central in those first three years, it would have reminded him that anything good was the result of the grace of Christ working in him. He could have also handled his failures over the past two years because the Cross would have reminded him that Christ has given him a new identity and a safe place to deal honestly with sin.

Faith and Repentance Are the Keys

How do you avoid leading a Cross-less life? The answer is found in moment-by-moment faith and repentance. Faith keeps us laying hold of the grace and mercy of Christ and thereby avoiding despair. Repentance keeps us facing our ongoing struggle with sin and thereby avoiding pride. This is just what Andy needs-throughout his Christian life. This is just what every Christian needs. And yet so many believers only think of faith and repentance as the way to enter the Christian life. They fail to realize that faith and repentance link us to Christ on a daily basis. Faith is another way of saying, “seeing Christ’s glory and grace and turning to him.” Repentance is another way of saying, “admitting and turning from sin.” They are two sides of the same coin, and both are essential for the Christian life.