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The Cure for Restless Hearts

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The Cure for Restless Hearts

Revelation 2:18-28

Dr. Jim Denison

Jesus wrote the longest letter in Revelation to its smallest church, proof that the issue we are studying today is crucial. Thyatira was located 40 miles due east of Pergamum. Its major importance was as a textile manufacturing center. Purple dye, the most coveted in the ancient world, was made from the roots of the madder plant, a species which was abundant in the region. The book of Acts describes Lydia of Philippi as a dealer in purple from Thyatira (Acts 16:14).

If Pergamum was the Washington, D.C. of ancient Asia, Thyatira was their Chicago–a blue-collar workers’ town. And central to her economy and culture were the trade unions which dominated her life.

Every industry had one. Each trade union had its own patron god or goddess. Each week the union would meet together to worship its deity. An animal would be sacrificed on the altar of that god, then eaten in a feast. Drunken orgies would usually follow. If you did not attend the meetings of your trade union, you could not work. You could not support yourself or your family. You might starve to death.

Moral compromise was the greatest temptation in Thyatira. It is the greatest temptation in Dallas. Our options are two.

Refusing the call to compromise

“Jezebel” is the voice of compromise, then and today. The original woman by this name was the wife of King Ahab of Israel. She was responsible for bringing Baal worship into the nation and corrupting its soul (1 Kings 16:31).

This Jezebel has the same message: go along to get along. You have a God-given responsibility to support your family. Compromise for the sake of those you care about. These false gods are harmless. What difference does it make if you eat meat offered to them, or participate in the culture? You’re supposed to go into the world as Christians, not withdraw from it. Compromise is the way the real world works.

After all, we live in two worlds: the spiritual and the secular, Sunday and Monday. Why not go to church on Sunday and the trade union meeting on Monday? Why not go to prayer meeting and Bible study, then to a party with your trade guild?

Why not read your Bible and pray and worship, but also drink with your friends and get involved in private immorality and do what the popular kids do? Why not go to the movies and the clubs that the culture has made popular? Why not have your church friends and your worldly friends, your church life and your “real world” life? The arrangement seems to be working well enough.

In fact, Jesus commends “your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first” (v. 19). His description escalates: actions, to the love and faith which prompt them, to the ministry and perseverance which makes them effective, so that we are doing more than we’ve ever done.

We’ve built a new Community Life Center. We are doing ministry around the world. Our programs are healthy. Our giving is good. All seems well. Why be more committed than we already are? We may not have all of Jesus we need, but we have all we want. So long as we’re in Thyatira, we have to get along with the people who live in Thyatira. That’s just the way it is.

Such is the message of Jezebel. Now hear the message of Jesus.

Obeying the call to courage

He is “the Son of God,” the only time the phrase is used in Revelation. His eyes “are like blazing fire,” symbolic of judgment and omniscience. His feet are “like burnished bronze,” symbolic of glowing holiness and glory.

He will bring all who advocate compromise to repentance, employing any means that are necessary. He will use a “bed of suffering” until “they repent of their ways.” He will “strike her children dead,” probably a reference to his judgment on the spiritual results of her message.

Then “all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,” that he is a God who sees our private compromise and brings it to judgment. He will “repay each of you according to your deeds,” as gently as he can or as harshly as he must. He will do whatever it takes to remove the cancer of compromise from the soul of his Church, the body of Christ.

When we stand with courage, we receive “authority over the nations” as reward for our commitment. Even better, we receive “the morning star,” Jesus himself. In Revelation 22:16, Jesus calls himself “the bright Morning Star.” We are given the most intimate, joyful, life-transforming personal relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He repays every sacrifice our courage requires.

To see life this way requires a worldview shift, a change in our way of understanding our world. If Thyatira is our home, our destination, we need to go along to get along in Thyatira. If Dallas is our home, our purpose, our definition of success and significance, then we need to do whatever it takes to be prosperous and happy in Dallas. But what if it’s not? What if we are going about life in the wrong way?

According to the word of God, life on earth is the journey, not the destination. Our lives are cars in which to travel, not homes in which to live. As with the children of Israel, we are in the wilderness, traveling to the Promised Land. If Christ is your Savior, you have been freed from slavery in spiritual Egypt. You are on your way to the Holy Land which none of us has ever seen. You are traveling in the wilderness now. It is the means, not the end; the road, not the reward. Seeing life that way changes everything.

We can settle down in the desert and make the best of things here, but we will miss all that is waiting for us when we get to the Holy Land. We can try to scrape together a life in the wilderness, or live for the “land of milk and honey.” We can follow our friends and culture here, or follow the pillar of cloud and fire which is leading us home. He alone knows the best way. He alone can give us manna and quail for the journey. He alone can give us protection and significance in the wilderness, until we follow him to the eternal joy of our eternal homes.

If this is just the wilderness on the way to the Holy Land, what people living in the desert think of us doesn’t really matter all that much, does it? Turning from the One who leads us to joy, compromising with the stragglers along the road so we can have a little bigger tent or a newer camel for the journey doesn’t make much sense. Straying into immorality and cultural compromise so we can get a larger caravan for the temporary journey isn’t very wise. By contrast, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliott).

Conclusion

You and I were made for the next world, not this one. Have you noticed that the best in this life is never good enough? In gazing at the most beautiful sunset over the ocean, there’s something empty, something missing–it’s not enough. The finest meal isn’t quite enough; the most delightful walk through the woods is somehow imperfect. In the best moments, it’s as though there’s something more, something missing, something beyond this. There is. Augustine was right: “God have made us for himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him” (Confessions 1.1).

But when we rest in him, when we live for the Holy Land and not the wilderness, when we pay the price of courage to refuse the peril of compromise, we find a joy in the journey that we will discover in no other way. We find a purpose to every day, a direction to every step, a fulfillment in every moment. Life makes sense. The problems and pains of this fallen world are less significant. We consider that the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed (Romans 8:18).

There is true joy waiting for us even in Thyatira, if we will trade Jezebel for Jesus. Why did God bring you to hear that invitation today?

The Cure for the Complacent Souls

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The Cure for Complacent Souls

Revelation 3:1-6

Dr. Jim Denison

The church we’ll visit today was located in the most ideal city for Christianity in all of Revelation. If any church should have been alive and exciting, it was this one. And that was indeed their reputation, with everyone but Jesus.

Sardis was located thirty miles southeast of Thyatira and fifty miles east of Ephesus. She had been an important and wealthy city for centuries. Her foundations date to 1500 B.C., when she was the capital of the Lydian Empire.

This was the center of transportation for the entire continent. Major trade routes led from Sardis in five different directions, bringing her citizens commerce and wealth beyond any city in the region.

In addition, the Pactolus River carried gold dust literally into the city’s market place. Croesus, her king in 560 B.C., minted the first modern coins, so that Sardis became the place where money was born.

Dyeing and woolen industries thrived here. Merchants lined her streets with their shops, some of which have been excavated and reconstructed today. Her baths and its columns, swimming pool, and gymnasium have been restored, and are among the most impressive in all of Turkey. Her people were so wealthy that when an earthquake devastated Sardis in A.D. 17 she rebuilt herself without aid from the Empire, in just nine years.

Sardis was the political capital for her region, and a thriving religious center as well. She possessed a temple of Artemis which, while never completed, rivaled in size the famous temple in Ephesus. Her Jewish synagogue was famous for its size and opulence. It has also been reconstructed, and is strikingly beautiful.

The authorities in Sardis were very tolerant of all religions, including Christianity. The church here faced none of the persecution believers endured in Smyrna or Pergamum. These Christians were uncompromised in their doctrine or moral convictions. None of the problems plaguing the other churches of Revelation are to be found here.

In every way this would seem to be an ideal church in an ideal city. And in fact Jesus says they “have a reputation of being alive” (v. 1). If we could visit this church, we’d be very impressed. A beautiful meeting place for worship, a wealthy congregation in attendance, an eloquent sermon, by every appearance the strongest church we’ve visited so far.

And so we expect to hear a strong word of support and commendation from Jesus. Then comes the shock: “You are dead.” You look alive, but you are not. You look healthy and wealthy, but you are not. You are asleep, and dying. And if you don’t wake up, now, “I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (v. 3). I’ll come and you’ll be gone.

These Christians are asleep spiritually, and near death. Though they live in the most ideal city in Revelation, they have lost touch with their souls. Now Jesus must do whatever is necessary to wake them up. The deeper the sleep the harsher the alarm must be, before the coma leads to death.

How a soul falls asleep

Trust appearances. Jesus says, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead… I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God” (v. 1, 2). If you want your spiritual life to grow useless and lifeless, trust how it looks.

Of all the churches and cities in Revelation, these should have known better. Sardis stood at the top of a mountain, 1500 feet above the valley. The mountain sides were smooth, so that there was no good way for an army to ascend and attack. The city stood like a giant watchtower over the Hermus valley below, and appeared impregnable.

When Cyrus of Persia attacked Sardis, her people were convinced that their walls would protect them. But a Persian soldier saw a Sardian soldier accidentally drop his helmet down the cliff and climb down to retrieve it. He knew then that there must be a crack in the side of that cliff by which a man could climb. That night he led a raiding party of Persian soldiers up the side of the mountain, through that crack. They found the Sardian watchmen sleeping and took the entire city. Sardis appeared safe, but they fell asleep and perished.

Two centuries later history repeated itself, as the Greek leader Antiochus and his troops climbed the same crack and found the watch asleep. Again the sleeping city fell. And now history was being repeated a third time in the church of Sardis. These believers were asleep and dying. Trusting appearances. Believing that because they looked healthy and vital, they must be.

This can happen so easily to us. We can think that because our church’s statistics are good and our meetings well-attended, we must be healthy. Because we come to church on Sunday morning and act religious, we must be. Because we keep up our activities, we must be growing spiritually.

But remember the Scripture: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16.7). If you want your soul to grow cold and lifeless, trust appearances.

Live in the past. Sardis’ greatest days were behind her. By this time she had become famous for decadence and immorality. She constantly remembered her great kings and achievements of the past, and lived in them. Her Christians gloried in their reputation and took pride in their great history. And soon their church would be history as well.

Christians can still make their mistake today. You may remember with joy the day you came to Christ, but that was to be just the beginning of your Christian life. You may recall a great revival your church experienced, or an exciting mission trip, or your days teaching the Bible or leading a ministry. But if you live in those days now, you will miss the power of God.

What is Jesus doing in your life today? Where is he at work now? Is he a living presence, or a historic figure for you? The subject of your religious faith, or a present reality? Who was the last person with whom you shared Christ? The last life you touched? The last time God spoke powerfully to you? The last time you gave your heart to Jesus in prayer? If you want your soul to grow dry and cold, live in the past.

Preserve the present.. Maintain the status quo. Become comfortable and complacent. Don’t rock the boat or offend your society. Fit in–keep things as they are. These were the mottos of Sardis, and her church. And they preserved the present until it was gone.

But many Christians still haven’t learned the lessons of Sardis. The seven last words of the church are, “We never did it that way before.” We want the status quo, some place in our lives to remind us of how the world used to be. In a postmodern, post-Christian society, we want one hour a week where we can go back in time to a place that is safe and comfortable. We like things efficient and organized. And nothing is better organized than a graveyard.

Are you comfortable with your faith today? Is your soul where you want it to be? Do you read about Sardis, unconcerned that it might be your church as well? Then it is. If you want your soul to be dull and dry, trust appearances, live in the past, and preserve the present. But a comfortable soul is soon complacent, and then comatose.

When a soul falls asleep

How do we “wake up”? “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard” (v. 3). “Remember” is in the present imperative and should be translated, “Go on remembering,” or “don’t ever let yourself forget.”

Remember what? “What you have received….” “Received” translates the word for a possession deposited with a banker for safekeeping. We “received” the word of God and the Spirit in the same way a banker receives money. The indwelling Holy Spirit is our all-sufficient help for growing deep in the things of God.

Here’s how Peter states the fact: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1.3). We already have in our lives all we need.

How do we receive this help? We’re to remember what we have “received and heard.” The Spirit of God delights to speak to those who will listen. He is waiting to speak to us. God has so much more to say than most of us have heard.

Here is the Father’s plea: “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55.2-3). The best way to feed our souls is by listening to God.

Every church in Revelation received the same invitation: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” I have counted over 300 times in Scripture where God tries to speak to his people. The Spirit wants to speak to us today.

Then why don’t we hear him more clearly? Because hearing anyone requires time and silence. We must make time to listen, and be still enough to hear. When last did you hear his Spirit speak to yours?

When we hear God’s voice, next we must “obey it, and repent” (v. 3). It is imperative that we surrender to what we hear God say, for the sake of our souls.

“Obey” in Jesus’ letter to Sardis translates a word which means “to keep.” It is in the present imperative, so that it could be rendered, “continually hold onto and never let go.” It is essential that we continue to obey what God says to us.

When we obey, we will usually need to repent as well. The closer we come to God, the further away we realize we are. When you’re walking at night and a passing car splashes mud on you, in the dark it doesn’t look too bad. As you come closer to a streetlight you see more mud, and begin to brush it off. When you stand in the light you see that you must go home and change. So with our souls.

The essence of growing spiritually is to live yielded to the voice of God’s Spirit.

Conclusion

It is possible to be close to Jesus, even in Sardis. In their sleeping, dying church “you have a few people who have not soiled their clothes,” Jesus says (v. 4a). The woolen industry in Sardis was famous the world over. And so Jesus contrasts their beautiful outer garments with their dirty souls, and commends the few who have stayed close to him.

The future of these few is bright: “They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy” (v. 4b). In the ancient world white garments stood for purity, as a white wedding dress does today. They were also the robes of feasting and festivals, and of victory. Those whose souls are close to God are pure, joyous, and victorious.

And these robes will last forever: “I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (v. 5b). “Acknowledge” means to advocate before the courts. Jesus will be our defender and win us approval before the Judge of the ages.

All this is waiting for those who will listen to God’s Spirit and obey what they hear. Even in Sardis we can overcome, walk with Jesus, be robed in white, and gain eternal favor with the Father. We can find our souls, never to lose them again.

An elderly, bedridden man became discouraged about his spiritual life. God seemed distant and unapproachable. He felt as though his prayers weren’t heard. He spoke to his pastor about this problem, and received some unusual advice. The pastor suggested that he put an empty chair next to his bed and imagine Jesus sitting in the chair. Then speak to him as though he were right there. The man did, and it worked. He kept the chair beside his bed always.

A few months later the man died. His daughter found him and called their pastor immediately. “It’s so hard,” she said through her tears. “He was fine when I left him. When I came back, he was gone. And there’s something I don’t understand. When I found him, his hand was in the empty chair. I wonder why.” Her pastor said, “I think I know.”

Do you?

The Cure For The Grieving Soul

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The Cure for a Grieving Soul

John 11:21-26

Dr. Jim Denison

Men’s Bible Study begins this Thursday morning, as we consider this semester “Lessons learned the hard way: the life and legacy of Moses.” Dr. Ron Scates, senior minister of Highland Park Presbyterian Church and my very dear friend, will be the speaker as we begin. Then I’ll teach the rest of the semester.

But I often say that the real reason I teach Men’s Bible Study is to tell stories I can’t tell on Sunday. Here’s an example of one which is just on the edge.

“A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 5 a.m. for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and lose!), he wrote on a piece of paper, ‘Please wake me at 5 a.m..’ He left it where he knew she would find it.

“The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9 a.m. and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn’t awakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, ‘It is 5 a.m.. Wake up.’

“Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

These days, we’re dealing with life’s hardest questions, issues with which we are not equipped without God’s help. We’ve sought the cure for a lonely soul, a hungry soul, an injured soul, a joyless soul. Today we’ll seek the cure for a grieving soul.

When Mark Twain buried his beloved daughter Olivia’s body he placed over her grave this epitaph: “Warm summer sun, shine kindly here; Warm southern wind, blow softly here; Green sod, lie light, good night, dear heart.” He was sure that she was in the grave, that death is all there is. Was he right?

What happens when we die? When death comes to someone we care about? And, what happens to children when they die? We can consider no more relevant or emotional questions than these.

Why do we die?

W.C. Fields on his deathbed was seen thumbing through a Bible. Someone asked why. His answer: “Looking for loopholes.” But he didn’t find any. The death rate is still 100%. If Lazarus, Jesus’ best friend, was not kept from dying, neither will we.

In fact, you and I are one day closer to death and eternity than we have ever been before.

God’s word warns us: “It is appointed unto all men once to die, and then the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Death comes for us all.

Neither wisdom nor wealth can prevent it: “All can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others” (Psalm 49:10).

We all face the same end, unless Jesus returns first: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

On a tombstone in Sevenoaks, Kent, England is found these words:

“Grim death took me without any warning

I was well at night, and dead in the morning.”

It can happen that way for any of us.

But why? Why does death exist? If God were all-loving, he’d want to destroy death, we assume. If he were all powerful, he could. But he doesn’t. Why did he allow the tragic deaths of 9-11, an anniversary just one week away? Why did he allow the deaths in the recent Russian school siege? Why did he allow the one you love to die? Why? Here’s the simple answer: because of sin.

The Bible teaches, “Sin entered the world through man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

The thief on the cross said, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” (Luke 23:41).

This wasn’t God’s intention. He created a perfect world for his children. But when sin entered, death stayed. Death exists, not because God doesn’t love us or isn’t powerful, but because of sin.

Sometimes we die because of our own sin, as did the thief at Jesus’ side. Sometimes we die because of the sins of others, as when a drunk driver kills a child, or a terrorist flies an airplane into a skyscraper, or terrorists take over a school. Sometimes we die because of the sin of humanity, as a result of the diseases and disasters which plague this fallen planet. But we all die, because of the existence of sin.

But Jesus died so our sins could be forgiven. Why, then, do we still die?

God’s word is clear: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians. 15:50). Physical death frees us to live forever in glorified bodies with God in his heaven.

Then one day, death will be destroyed forever: “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of five” (Revelation 20:14). His word promises: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

What happens when we die?

So, what happens in the moment when you die? First, you are with Christ, if Jesus is your Lord. Jesus told the thief at his side, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Jesus taught us that the moment we die, the angels carry us to God’s side (Luke 16:22). When you close our eyes here you open them there. You will never die (John 11:26; Philippians 1:23). You are forever and always with Jesus.

Second, you’re home. Paul said, “We would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Most of us have had surgery of some kind. You are in one room, then you fall asleep; when you awake, you’re done. It’s that way for us all.

Third, you’re in glory. Heaven is paradise, as Jesus said. Paul said “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), for “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13). We will gain imperishable, glorified, spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), and be like Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:49). We will know God and each other as we are known (1 Corinthians 13.12). And we will eat of the tree of life and live forever (Revelation 22).

Dwight Moody, on his deathbed, said, “If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. Dwight! Irene! I see the children’s faces. God is calling me. I must go. Earth recedes. Heaven opens before me.”

If Jesus is your Lord, when you die you won’t. Instead, you’ll see God. And you’ll be safely home.

What happens to babies when they die?

But we’re not done with tough questions yet. There’s one left for our subject, and it’s the hardest of all. What happens to babies when they die? They’re obviously not old enough to understand the gospel. Yet Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). So what happens to those who are too young to know him? In a related area, what about those who are not able developmentally to understand the gospel? What happens when they die?

It’s a very personal question for every parent in our service. One of the reasons I’ve asked Ron Scates to speak on “lessons learned the hard way” this Thursday is because he and his wife Ann lost a child themselves, and helped another survive cancer. It’s the hardest issue of life.

I’ll never forget the day it came home to me. A nine-month-old daughter of one of our church members had fallen victim to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I was asked to perform the funeral. As I looked into that tiny casket, I suddenly saw the face of my own nine-month-old son. I had to step out of the room and gather myself. My sons are my greatest treasure. I cannot imagine the unspeakable pain of burying one. But death comes to all—some late, some early. What happens to those who die so young?

Let’s begin with what God thinks of children. Jesus made clear his feelings on the subject in two separate incidents.

The first is his response to his disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). He knew they needed to see the answer more than hear it, so “He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven'” (vs. 2-3). The “greatest” in God’s kingdom is the one who is most like a child.

Later some mothers brought their children to Jesus, seeking his blessing (a typical custom with a visiting, famous rabbi). His disciples “rebuked those who brought them” (Matthew 19:13), so Jesus rebuked them: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (v. 14).

So, what happens to one of God’s children when they die as a child? We can trust our earthly children to their heavenly Father. Yes, we all inherit a sin nature from Adam (Romans 5:12-14). But we must choose to actualize this potential, to live in conscious rebellion against God. Those who die before they can understand the gospel cannot have rejected it. They are still in a state of grace.

King David said of his deceased newborn son, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). He believed that his child was already where he would one day be, and trusted him to the God who made him. He was right.

Conclusion

If you’re the parent of young children, know that they belonged to their heavenly Father before they were entrusted to you. Trust them to their first Father. And yourself with them.

Then, when you die, you don’t. When you breathe your last breath here, you breathe your first breath there. When you close your eyes on earth, you open them in heaven. Jesus was emphatic: “whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:26).

Are you ready for that day?

There’s an old legend about a Baghdad merchant who sent his servant to the market to buy food. After a few minutes the servant ran back, pale and trembling. He stammered, “Down in the marketplace I was pushed by a man in the crowd. I turned around and saw the man was Death. He raised his arm to strike me. Please, Master, lend me your fastest horse so I can get away. I will ride to Samarra, where I can hide. Death will not find me there.”

The merchant lent his fastest horse to the servant, who rode away swiftly. He then went down to the marketplace himself, where he also saw Death standing in the crowd.

“Why did you frighten my servant this morning?” he asked. “Why did you scare him like that?” Death replied, “I was not trying to scare him. I was simply surprised. I was astonished to see him here in Baghdad. You see, I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

Let’s make sure we’re ready for ours.

The Cute For The Fruitless Soul

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The Cure for a Fruitless Soul

John 15:1-17

Dr. Jim Denison

A man was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap which measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He soon received in the mail a ticket for $40 and a photo of his car. He sent the police department a photograph of $40. He received a letter from the police containing a picture of handcuffs. He mailed in his $40.

One day you and I will receive a summons to appear before the highest court in the universe. Our Judge won’t need radar and cameras to render his verdict. What proof will he find that you and I were his followers? Not just Christians, or church attenders, but true disciples? What kind of evidence will he be looking for?

I’m teaching systematic theology at DBU on Tuesday nights this semester, and have discovered that students haven’t changed since I left the faculty of Southwestern Seminary years ago. They still want to know: will this be on the test? They want to know what to study for the exam.

Let me give you a study guide, and tell you why it matters so much today.

How do we become part of the vine?

Here’s the “I Am” for the week: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” (v. 1). These words were spoken while Jesus and his disciples were walking to Gethsemane from the house where they ate the Last Supper.

Probably they’ve turned off the road and into one of the temple courts for a while. And here they’ve come face to face with one of the most beautiful and powerful symbols in all Israel: the vine of grapes. A large vine of pure gold, fixed to the gate of the Temple itself.

The “vine” was Israel’s image of herself. She put it on her coins, and used it constantly. As America’s image is the eagle, and Russia’s is the bear, so Israel’s was the vine. Over and over again in the Old Testament, this symbol was used for their nation.

However, the Old Testament also makes clear that Israel’s vine had degenerated. Her vineyard has run wild; her grapes are sour and bitter.

The psalmist complained: “Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire” (Psalm 80:16). Jeremiah quotes the Lord: “How did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine” (Jeremiah 2:21; cf. Isaiah 5:7).

On the other hand, Jesus is the “true,” authentic and correct vine. Israel is the false and corrupted vine; Jesus is the true and right vine. Being “attached” to their temple or our church is not enough. Being an adherent of their religion or ours is not enough. We must be connected to the “true” vine, the only One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). No other vine will do.

When we trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, we become his. We “shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16); we are “a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17); we “shall never perish,” for no one can take us out of Jesus’ hand (John 10:28). All this happens when we make Jesus our Lord. To what vine are you attached today?

But it’s not enough to be in the vine—we are also supposed to bear fruit: “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (v. 16). This is the proof that we are really the disciples of Jesus: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (v. 8). If we bear “fruit,” we are his true disciples. If we do not, we are not.

So, what is this spiritual fruit? How do we bear it? What happens to us if we don’t?

What is spiritual fruit?

The vines of Israel, then and now, grow two types of branches. One bears fruit—the other does not. Those which do not bear fruit are immediately cut off, so they won’t burden those which do. Those which do bear fruit are pruned—cut back, disciplined as it were—so they will bear more fruit. This occurs each year in December and January.

Jesus’ point is clear: some branches bear fruit, while others do not. How do we know which we are? Here are the “fruit” God inspects.

One: our lives glorify God. “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit” (v. 8a). Jesus told us to “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When last did someone praise God because of you?

Two: we have the joy of Jesus: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (v. 11). A recent Gallup poll showed that those who attend worship regularly and give $2,000 or more annually to their faith community are more likely to be “satisfied with their lives” than those who do not.

When we are properly related to the vine, we bear the “fruit of the Spirit,” including “joy” (Galatians 5:22). We have joy which no circumstances can give or steal. How much joy is in your heart today?

Three: we reproduce spiritually, bearing “fruit that will last” (v. 16). A tree reproduces by bearing fruit—so does a disciple. We are to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). We are to tell what we know, to give what we have. God measures the faith we possess by the degree to which we share it.

How do we bear spiritual fruit?

So, what do we do to bear such fruit? How can we be attached to the vine so that our lives glorify God, bring us joy, and bring others to him? Let’s learn Jesus’ imperatives, as they build one on the other.

First, admit that we need the vine: “apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). Not something, but “nothing.” No matter our stock portfolio or educational achievements, or title or status.

So we repent of our self-dependence. We agree: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127:1). We say with Paul: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).

When we moved to Midland many years ago, I was sent out to the front yard to clear off all the vines that had grown up on the walls of the house. I thought they looked just fine, but the landscape artist who lived inside disagreed. So, being the hired help, out I went. I pulled at ivy and vines for hours, to little effect. Then a thought occurred to me: it would be easier to cut them off at the roots, then come back later. I did—a week later they were all dead. I didn’t have to pull them off the brick—I could brush them off. They had turned to dust. The branches couldn’t abide without the vine.

Admit that you need the vine, that you’ll shrivel up and die without staying connected to Jesus every day. “Abide” in him, choose to stay connected with Jesus every day, to “remain in me” (v. 2). A branch without the vine is Christianity without Christ. A branch in the vine climbs and grows to the sky.

Second, pray continually: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (v. 7).

I agree with John Wesley that God does nothing except in answer to prayer. The Lord of the universe has chosen to limit himself to the freedom he has given us. As a result, he can do nothing which requires our will, without our permission. He cannot guide us to the right decision unless we ask him to; he cannot meet our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19) unless we ask him to; he cannot lead us into the abundant life (John 10:10) unless we ask him to.

How much do you pray? How often? Prayer is how we connect with the vine. We are never taller than when we are on our knees. We are never stronger than when we are surrendered to God in prayer.

Third, obey his word: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (v. 10).

Jesus was insistent on this point: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15); “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (v. 21); “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (v. 23). We are his disciples only if we obey our Master.

Is there an area of disobedience in your life? Do you need to confess gossip, slander, anger, lust, laziness, pride? Are you giving the tithe to the Lord? Are you using your spiritual gifts fully in evangelism and ministry?

Last, love his people: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (v. 12). How did he love us? Unconditionally, absolutely, no matter how we treated him. Our Master says it again: “This is my command: Love one another” (v. 17).

Here is how we “abide” in the vine, staying attached so that our lives bear spiritual fruit: stay humble, admitting that you need his help; pray constantly, surrendering your will to his; stay obedient to his word; love his people. How connected to the vine are you this morning?

What happens if we are fruitless?

Before we close, we must ask one more question: what happens if we don’t do as Jesus asks? What happens if we are self-reliant, pray seldom, disobey his word and will, hurt his people? We will not bear fruit—we will not glorify God, know his joy, or reproduce spiritually. What then?

Jesus warns us: God “cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit” (v. 2). This does not mean that fruitless Christians lose their salvation—such branches are “in me” and “already clean” (v. 3). As we have already heard today, whoever makes Christ his Savior “has eternal life” (John 3:16).

Instead, fruitless branches “are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (v. 6). Their wood was too soft to be used for anything. So they were cut off from the vine and burned. The same will happen to our fruitless works: “If any man builds on [Christ] using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

If we are fruitless Christians, we will suffer an eternal loss of reward. The holy Lord simply cannot reward self-reliant, prayerless, disobedient, hurtful lives. Whatever we think we have gained by refusing to abide in the Vine, we more than lose in eternity. It’s a bad deal.

Conclusion

We’ve covered much ground today. We’ve learned that Jesus is the “true vine,” so that only by being connected to him can we have eternal life. When did you make this connection yourself? He intends us to bear spiritual fruit: to glorify God, have his joy, and lead others to him. Does he find such fruit in your life? We bear this fruit by admitting we need him every day, praying constantly, obeying his word and will, and loving his people. If we don’t, we lose the joy of Jesus on earth, and his reward in heaven.

Now the choice is yours and mine. Our joy on earth and reward in heaven depend on choosing wisely. Only one life—’twill soon be past; only what’s done with Christ will last. Do you agree?

The Da Vinci Code Bible

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The Da Vinci Code Bible

Revelation 5:1-5

Dr. Jim Denison

Did you know that some airlines refuse to allow a Christian pilot and co-pilot to fly together, for fear that if the rapture occurs the plane will crash? You didn’t know that because it’s not true. But it’s making the rounds. Did you hear about the Little Rock woman who jumped from her speeding car’s sunroof because she was convinced that Jesus was coming back? That’s because it never happened. But the story is still being published today.

What about this one: “The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book” (The Da Vinci Code, p. 231). That’s more than obscure urban legend–it’s been read by 40 million people. If it’s true, you and I are wasting our time and our lives today.

We need to know why we can trust the Bible. Then we need to trust it today. Where do you most need to hear from God this morning? Let’s see if you can.

How did the Bible come to be?

Historian Teabing calls the creation of the Bible “The fundamental irony of Christianity!” and asserts, “The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great” (p. 231). If this is true, the Bible we have today was produced by a process which occurred around AD 325. Let’s look at the actual facts.

The Old Testament canon was finalized by two councils held at the city of Jamnia, one in AD 90 and the other in AD 118. Constantine had absolutely nothing to do with the process.

So perhaps Teabing means the canonical process of the New Testament. Here the facts are just as damaging to his case. The early Christians quickly developed four criteria for accepting a book as Scripture.

First, it must have been written by an apostle or based on his eyewitness testimony. This criteria alone exempted the second-century Gnostic books like the so-called Gospel of Judas.

Second, the book must possess merit and authority in its use. For instance, The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ tells of a man who is changed into a mule by a bewitching spell but converted back to manhood when the infant Christ is put on his back for a ride (7:5-27). In the same book, the boy Jesus causes clay birds and animals to come to life (ch. 15), stretches a throne his father had made too small (ch. 16), and takes the lives of boys who oppose him (19.19-24). It was easy to dismiss such fiction.

Third, a book must come to be accepted by the entire church, not just a single congregation or area.

And last, a book must be approved by the decision of the larger church, not just a few advocates.

In the first century, a number of books were soon produced in response to the ministry of Jesus. Other, less reputable books, began to appear as well. However, by the mid-second century only Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were accepted universally by the church. The other “gospels” simply did not meet the four criteria for acceptance set out above.

Note that this process was completed two centuries before Constantine. For example, in AD 115 Ignatius referred to the four gospels of our New Testament as “the gospel”; in AD 170, Tatian made a “harmony of the gospels” using only these four; around AD 180, Irenaeus referred to the four gospels as firmly established in the church.

The Muratorian Canon was established around AD 200, representing the usage of the church at Rome at that time. It lists only the four gospels in our Bible today, more than a century before Constantine.

Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 had absolutely nothing to do with the formation of the biblical canon. I have no idea why Brown would make such a fallacious assertion.

F. F. Bruce was one of the world’s foremost authorities on the creation of the Bible. His opinion should be considered: “One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect…what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of those communities” (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?).

Can we trust the Bible?

Next we turn to the trustworthiness and authenticity of the Bible as we have it today. “Historian” Teabing claims, “Because Constantine upgraded Jesus’ status almost four centuries after Jesus’ death, thousands of documents already existed chronicling His life as a mortal man. To rewrite the history books, Constantine knew he would need a bold stroke. From this sprang the most profound moment in Christian history…Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned” (p. 234, emphasis his). Remember what we have already noted–that Constantine had nothing to do with a “new Bible.”

Teabing continues: “Fortunately for historians…some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms…The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda–to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base” (p. 234). Teabing later calls the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea scrolls “the earliest Christian records” (p. 245).

Know that the Dead Sea Scrolls contain only the Old Testament. There is absolutely no New Testament document among them. They have nothing to do with any agenda to “promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ.” No one can figure out why Mr. Brown included them in “the earliest Christian records.”

The Coptic Scrolls at Nag Hammadi are not “the earliest Christian records,” either. We possess quotations and biblical copies which are much older than them. And these are decidedly not “Christian” records, reflecting the Gnostic heresy a century later than Jesus.

Nonetheless, these assertions have confused millions. The Bible says of itself, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). But we might expect this book to claim to be the trustworthy word of God. Is there objective historical evidence for or against this assertion?

Consider first the manuscript evidence. No original manuscripts exist for any ancient book. Writing materials were too fragile to stand the passage of centuries. This is the case for Aristotle, Plato, Julius Caesar, the writings of Buddha and the Koran just as much as it is for the Old and New Testaments.

However, we possess today some 5,000 ancient Greek copies of the New Testament, and 10,000 copies in other ancient languages. New Testament sections and quotations in the writings of early church fathers date to A.D. 100. Complete volumes of the New Testament date to the 4th century. Note that each predates Constantine.

Now compare these manuscripts with other ancient documents. Of Caesar’s Gallic Wars, we have today only nine or ten good manuscripts, none copied earlier than 900 years after Caesar. For the Histories of Tacitus, we have only four and a half of his 14 original books, none copied earlier than the 10th century A.D. For Aristotle’s works, we possess only five manuscripts of any one volume, none copied earlier than A.D. 1100 (14 centuries after the original).

Manuscript evidence for the New Testament is remarkable, far surpassing that which exists for any other ancient book. And those who work with these ancient copies (called “textual critics”) are convinced that they have been able to recover a Greek New Testament which is virtually identical to the original. Quoting F.F. Bruce again, “The variant readings about which any doubt remains among textual critics of the New Testament affect no material question of historic fact or of Christian faith and practice.”

When Teabing asserts, “History has never had a definitive version of the book” and claims that scholars cannot confirm the authenticity of the Bible, he’s simply wrong.

Let’s look next at the evidence of archaeology. Such findings continue to confirm the geographical and historical veracity of the biblical texts. For instance, the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2ff) was once dismissed as historical fiction. Now archaeologists locate it in the northeast quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. I’ve seen it.

Researchers have identified the remains of Caiaphas, the high priest of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. They have discovered the skeleton of Yohanan, a crucifixion victim from AD 70, and note that these remains confirm the details of Jesus’ crucifixion as it is described in the gospels. Archaeological evidence strongly supports the trustworthiness of the biblical narratives.

Last, consider the evidence of fulfilled prophecy. As I mentioned on Easter Sunday, at least 48 major Messianic prophecies can be identified in the Old Testament. Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled each one. The odds that one man could fulfill them all are one in 10 to the 157th power, a number larger than the atoms of the universe.

Conclusion

Of course, billions of people across 20 centuries can attest to the fact that the teachings of the Bible have been proven true and authoritative in their personal lives. But even such overwhelming subjective evidence to the side, there is still outstanding evidential reason to believe that the Bible is the trustworthy word of God.

Now, what does all this mean to you today? In Revelation 5 we find “in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals” (v. 1). Books in the ancient world were written on papyrus, a kind of paper made from papyrus reeds. They were made into sheets about ten inches by eight, joined together horizontally and placed on wooden rollers. Documents written by kings and rulers were tied with string sealed at the knots. Only a person equal in power to the author could break the seal. This task fell to Jesus alone, for “he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (v. 5).

God’s word requires God’s help. You and I cannot unseal its meaning ourselves. But when Jesus opens it to us, it reveals all that we need to know about the past, present, and future. The seven seals broken by Jesus will inaugurate the events which culminate history itself. God has written a book, and his Son wants to help you understand it today.

When last did he? When last did God’s word change your life? If it doesn’t, The Da Vinci Code may as well be right about it. If you and I don’t rely upon its truth every day, walking in its light and obeying its revelation, it may as well be sealed. So, did you meet God in his word this morning? Yesterday? Do you remember what he said to you? Did his word alter your life in any way? What would you like to ask him today?

When serving as a missionary in Malaysia, I gave my leather Thompson Chain-Reference Study Bible to a passionate young believer who had no chance to own a study Bible for himself. I’ll never forget the joy on his face. Or the trembling hands of an elderly woman who took a paperback Malay New Testament and held it close to her heart.

I need to treasure God’s word like that. Will you join me?

The Da Vinci Code Jesus

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The Da Vinci Code Jesus

Revelation 5

Dr. Jim Denison

The Da Vinci Code is the most controversial book of this generation. Never before in American history has a bestselling book so defamed biblical Christianity. The movie version will only fan the flames.

It is crucial that you know the truth behind the fiction, for the sake of your own soul and spiritual health. And for the sake of those you know. The book and movie give us an unprecedented opportunity to talk to friends and neighbors about the controversy and the One at the heart of it all. But we have to know the truth before we can give it to those we care about.

We’ll start today with the central issue of the book and the controversy: the divinity of Jesus Christ.

The Da Vinci Code Jesus

Dan Brown centers his plot in two so-called experts: a Harvard professor of religious symbols named Robert Langdon and an English historian named Leigh Teabing. Mr. Teabing makes especially astounding claims against Jesus:

“Until that moment in history [at the Council of Nicaea, AD 325], Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet…a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal” (p. 233, emphasis his).

It was Emperor Constantine who made Jesus a divine figure, according to Teabing: “By officially endorsing Jesus as the Son of God, Constantine turned Jesus into a deity who existed beyond the scope of the human world, an entity whose power was unchallengeable” (p. 233). Making Christ divine “not only precluded further pagan challenges to Christianity, but now the followers of Christ were able to redeem themselves only via the established sacred channel–the Roman Catholic Church” (p. 233, emphasis his).

In conclusion, “It was all about power…Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of Church and state. Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power” (p. 233, emphasis his).

This position should not surprise us, according to Teabing. A character named Sophie asks, “And I assume devout Christians send you hate mail on a daily basis?” Teabing replies, “Why would they?…The vast majority of educated Christians know the history of their faith. Jesus was indeed a great and powerful man. Constantine’s underhanded political maneuvers don’t diminish the majesty of Christ’s life. Nobody is saying that Christ was a fraud, or denying that He walked the earth and inspired millions to better lives. All we are saying is that Constantine took advantage of Christ’s substantial influence and importance. And in doing so, he shaped the face of Christianity as we know it today” (p. 234).

Here’s the summary: “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false” (p. 235, emphasis his). I have never read a more devastating indictment of Christianity’s central affirmation that Jesus is Lord. Made in the guise of a supposedly reputable historian, claiming that “the vast majority of educated Christians” agree with him, it is easy to see why so many readers have been confused and misled.

Is there objective evidence for biblical Christianity and its affirmation of the divinity of Jesus Christ? Absolutely.

The historical Jesus

We can start with Scripture itself. God’s word contains the most astounding claim to divine authority ever uttered, when the resurrected Christ states: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). “All” authority–so that we have none. In “heaven” and on “earth,” the entire universe. He possesses all the divine authority there is.

But you’d expect the Bible to make that claim. The Koran claims that the Muslim Allah is the one God; the Book of Mormon presents the central truth claims of that religion. Is there evidence outside of Scripture that early Christians did not see Jesus as a “mortal prophet” but worshiped him as God? Is there non-biblical evidence that Mr. Brown is wrong and the Bible is right?

Consider Tacitus (AD 55-120), the greatest ancient Roman historian. In his Annals he writes (ca. AD 115): “Christus…suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition broke out” (Annals XV.44). “Superstition” makes clear the fact that the followers of Christus believed something miraculous, not simply that he was a great human teacher.

Pliny the Younger was a Roman administrator and governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor; 2 volumes of his letters are extant today. The tenth of his correspondence books (written around AD 112) contains the earliest non-biblical description of Christian worship: “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ as to a god.” Note that they worshiped Christ as God, not merely a religious teacher or leader. And they did so in AD 112, not AD 325 after Constantine.

And what of early non-biblical Christian records?

Clement of Rome (AD 95) repeatedly refers to the “Lord Jesus Christ.” He also promises a “future resurrection” on the basis of his “raising the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead” (24.1).

Ignatius (AD 110-15) refers to “Jesus Christ our God” (intro. to Ephesians). To the Smyrnaeans he writes, “I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who has thus given you wisdom” (1.1).

And Justin the Martyr (AD 150) repeatedly refers to Jesus as the Son of God (cf. Apol. 22). He also describes the fact that God raised him from the dead and brought him to heaven (Apol. 45).

We could go on and on. Evidence that the first Christians believed Jesus to be divine is simply overwhelming. The early Christians were absolutely united in their common affirmation, Jesus is Lord.

Teabing claims that “Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet” until “that moment in history” when Constantine and the Nicean Council declared him divine. But Teabing is simply wrong on the merits. The historical record conclusively proves otherwise. The “vast majority of educated Christians” know this to be the true story of our faith.

The heavenly Jesus

We’ve seen the Da Vinci Code Jesus and the historical Jesus. Let’s close with a glimpse at the heavenly Jesus, for he is the Jesus who will change your life today. Revelation 5 gives us the fullest picture in Scripture of Jesus as he is now. Every detail and dimension of John’s vision conveys something important about the nature and character of our Lord.

The chapter moves as a drama in three parts. Scene one: the Father holds an unbreakable seven-sealed scroll (vs. 1-4). We’ll discuss that scroll and its significance next week.

For our purposes, note that a “mighty angel” (perhaps Gabriel?) cannot break these seals (v. 2). “No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth” could do so (v. 3). This description encompasses all of creation. So John “wept and wept” because no one could break these seals and reveal the scroll’s contents (v. 4); clearly this matter possessed great spiritual significance.

Scene two: the Lion/Lamb takes the scroll (vs. 5-7). Jesus is here described as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” God’s word had predicted that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9-10) and the line of David (Isaiah 11:1).

“Horns” were symbolic of strength; this lamb has seven, strength to infinity. He is the omnipotent God. “Eyes” symbolized knowledge; seven of them shows him to be omniscient. His omniscience is tied to the “seven spirits of God,” better translated “the seven-fold Spirit of God.” The Spirit who sees all that is–who is watching your worship and reading your mind right now. He is worthy to take the scroll, the word of God.

Scene three: all of creation worships the Lion/Lamb (vs. 8-14). The same elders and creatures which had been praising the Father (Revelation 4) now turn their worship toward his Son (v. 8). Each one has a harp, symbolic of musical praise (from this verse we get most of our concept of angels playing harps in heaven).

They are holding golden bowls full of incense (a picture from Jewish Temple worship); but this incense is “the prayers of the saints,” showing that God hears and keeps our prayers before himself.

Hear their praise (vs. 8-10). Hear the praise of the numberless angels who join their worship (v. 12). Hear the praise of “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” (v. 13).

Not the “mortal prophet” of The Da Vinci Code, is he? A million men and women and children would not willingly die for a human religious leader, but that many in the Roman Empire chose to join the worship of this Jesus at the cost of their lives. And that was generations before Constantine “made Jesus divine.”

Will you join their worship today?

Conclusion

When last were you awed by Jesus? When last did you give him this kind of worship? You can attend church and miss Christ. Millions have, unfortunately.

I’ve toured the White House, but I don’t have a personal relationship with the president. I’ve seen the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but I’ve never met the queen. I used Microsoft Windows to type this sermon, but I’ve never spoken with Bill Gates. I love reading Tom Clancy novels, but I don’t know Tom Clancy.

Millions of Americans think that going to church makes them Christians, just as living in America makes us Americans. But it’s not true. Christians are people who worship Jesus with their lives, who have a life-changing personal relationship with him as their Lord. When last did you worship Jesus as heaven does today? When next will you?

A few years ago Lady Bird Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon Johnson, took her grandchildren on a tour of the Smithsonian. They came to that famous display of the First Wives in their inaugural gowns.

Mrs. Johnson was about to tell her grandchildren about her gown as it was modeled on her wax figure when a tourist said rudely, “Hey, lady, would you move out of the way? I’m trying to get a picture of Mrs. Johnson.” The real Mrs. Johnson politely stepped to the side so the man could take a picture of the wax figure. He snapped the photo and went happily on his way, never knowing that he missed the real person.

Have you met the real Jesus today?

The Day after Labor Day

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Topical Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:10–15

Labor Day is the day when we do the opposite of what the name says. It’s a bit oxymoronic, like “jumbo shrimp” or “plastic silverware.” Nonetheless, it’s good to have a day not to labor. But the day will soon be over, and the world will be waiting when we get back.

What could we decide today that would make the day after Labor Day as hopeful and fulfilling as possible?

There are more than 155 million Americans in full-time and part-time employment today. Researchers say we work for six reasons, on a scale from less to most meaningful:

  • Inertia: working to do what we’ve always done
  • Economic pressure: working to make a financial living
  • Emotional pressure: working to please family, friends, and society
  • Potential: working to fulfill personal goals for a better future
  • Purpose: working for a sense of accomplishment
  • Play: working because we find joy and fulfillment in what we do.

All six are legitimate, but obviously, the more we can move further to the side of meaning, the better. When we can’t believe someone pays us to do what we do, we’re in a good place.

In our walk through the Sermon on the Mount, last week we noted Jesus’ statement that whoever does and teaches the word of God “will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).

The Bible describes specific rewards in heaven, crowns given to those who are faithful on earth. On Labor Day weekend, let’s explore the reasons to labor that have eternal significance.

Work for reward that lasts

Our text begins: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it” (v. 10). Paul is describing his apostolic ministry as apostle to the Gentiles, a ministry that brought him to Corinth and led him to establish the first Christian church there. This is the “foundation” he laid; now that he has left the city, those who followed him in faith are “building on it.”

However, the apostle is clear: “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (v. 11). He is the one true foundation of the church, the rock upon which we stand as Christians.

Now Paul comes to our choice: “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw” (v. 12). We can build on Christ using materials that are precious and last, or material that are cheap and temporal.

Here’s why we should give God our best: “each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done” (v. 13). The “Day” to which he refers is the day of judgment when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Here’s the good news: “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward” (v. 14). As fire reveals gold, silver, and precious stones for what they are, so God’s judgment will reveal the good works we have done in his name and for his glory. For them, we will “receive a reward.”

Here’s the bad news: “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (v. 15). At question is not our salvation. If we have asked Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and become our Lord and Savior, he answered our prayer and made us the children. We will therefore “be saved,” no matter what. But we will forfeit eternal reward that God can give only to those who are faithful to him.

It stands to reason that we would want to work most for that which is most valuable. Eternal rewards in heaven are the most valuable purpose for which to work on earth.

Seek crowns in heaven

The Bible describes these rewards as “crowns.” It’s a powerful metaphor. In the ancient world (and today), crowns are made of the best materials and awarded only to the most significant people. To wear a crown is to be royalty, to be recognized above all others.

Scripture lists four such crowns that God wants to give all of us.

First, there is the “imperishable crown.” “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24–25 NIV).

Here we learn about the importance of “strict training,” of running “in such a way as to get the prize.” This means to live with discipline, to know and live by God’s word, to walk with him daily as his Spirit empowers us.

Are you in “strict training”? Are you walking daily with your Lord?

Second, there is the “crown of life.” “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12 NIV). Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

This crown comes to those who choose to suffer in order to be faithful to their Lord. When we take unpopular but biblical stands, when we share our faith with those who ridicule us, when we serve Christ in hard places and times, he knows what we do for him. And he rewards us forever.

When was the last time it cost you something significant to follow Jesus?

Third, there is the “soul-winner’s crown.” “What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 NIV).

Paul is speaking of Thessalonians he led to Christ when he came to their city. There, he “reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women” (Acts 17:2–4).

Now he rejoices that these and others he helped find Christ will be “the crown in which we will glory.” Every person you lead closer to Christ is such a crown waiting for you. How many will you have in heaven?

Fourth, there is the “crown of righteousness.” “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8 NIV).

This crown comes to those who are faithful to the end, who glorify Christ with their lives and service until he calls them home. We cannot know that we will be faithful until the day we die. But we can decide every day to be ready to meet him every day, until that day comes.

Have you made that commitment yet today?

Conclusion

If we live with spiritual discipline, paying any price to serve Jesus, leading others to him and being ready to meet him daily, we will live and work in ways God can bless. We will give him our best and receive his best.

C. S. Lewis once said that there are two kinds of people. Some say to God, “Your will be done.” For them, meeting God in judgment will be reward and victory. To the others, God must finally say, “Your will be done.” They have rejected heaven, or rewards in heaven.

Is it his will or yours? You have only today to decide.

I’ll close with a personal word. More than four decades years ago, like millions of other people, I was preparing on Labor Day weekend to go to college. Choosing God’s will or my will was the major issue before me.

My dream was to become a professional tennis player or trumpet player. My parents, being a bit more realistic, would have preferred that I become a doctor. I knew that God had called me into the ministry of the word.

So, I kept all my options open. I chose to major in music, medicine, and religion, while keeping up my tennis game on the side. I tried to do my will and God’s will at the same time.

But I was miserable. I wasn’t happy in school or in life. I actually made plans to transfer to another university, hoping that would help.

Then, three of my professors befriended me. They gave me opportunities to teach Bible studies and preach sermons, to become involved in the ministry to which I knew I had been called.

And the more I served Jesus, the more I came to love Jesus. And the more I came to love the life he intended for me. Through that process, I chose to submit my life to God’s purpose for my life.

Looking back on that decision forty-three years later, I will always be grateful I chose his will over my own. Always.

I’ll make you a personal promise: if you’ll choose his will over yours, you’ll be glad you did. You will receive eternal rewards that far outweigh their cost, and you’ll live a life on earth of significance, purpose, and joy.

My college pastor told me something I’ve never forgotten: “The will of God never leads where the grace of God cannot sustain.” If you’ll live for God in heaven, you’ll live your best life on earth.”

This is the promise, and the invitation, of God.

The Ethics of Leadership for Health Care Professionals in a Post-Modern Context

Written by

The Ethics of Leadership

For Health Care Professionals

In a Post-modern Context

James C. Denison

Religious trends in the Western world are not encouraging. According to the latest American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), the number of Americans who describe themselves as “Christian” has dropped from 86% to 76% since 1990. At the same time, the number who say they have “no religion” has nearly doubled to more than 15%. The number who call themselves “atheist” or “agnostic” has quadrupled, and is now almost twice the number of Episcopalians in our country.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently released their “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.” The survey reports that more than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion, or no religion at all. Among Americans ages 18-29, one in four say they are not affiliated with any religion.

Spiritual trends in Europe are even more troubling. Harris Interactive conducted a large survey of religious beliefs on the Continent. Its results: in Italy, 62% say they believe in “any form of God or any type of supreme being”; in Spain, 48% of the population agrees; in Germany, 41% affirm the existence of “God”; 35% in England and 27% in France concur.

Why is Western spirituality in this condition? How are we to understand the ethics of leadership in our “postmodern context”? What is a “postmodern context”? What does any of this say to the issue of leadership for health care professionals?

Why do we think the way we do? Explaining the “postmodern” context

The first Christians held a clear and positive view of biblical authority, so that Paul could say that “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The medieval world

However, the authority structures of the Christian movement soon shifted from the Bible itself to the Scriptures as they are interpreted by the Church. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch argued for the authority of the bishop over the church and a “college” of bishops as the ruling authority of the universal Church. Irenaeus further identified the Roman Church as the “preeminent authority” in Christendom, with her leaders emanating from Peter and Paul through the bishops who have succeeded them.

Soon (ca. 250) Cyprian of Carthage had separated the “clergy” from the “laity” and made his famous claim, “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.” When Constantine made his conversion to Christianity in 312 and subsequently legalized the church, the institutional authority of the Christian movement was clearly defined as the Roman Church and her leadership.

Of course, this concept of ecclesiastical authority molded greatly the patristic and medieval concepts of Scriptural authority. As God gave the Scriptures through the Church, so (it was argued) he guided the Church through her leaders to the proper interpretation and application of his word. Creeds, councils, and papal rulings became the means by which the biblical materials were understood and transmitted.

And so the foundation blocks of the modern world were set in place: objective truth and absolute authority structures, centered in the teachings of the Church.

The Reformation project

In shorthand, the Protestant reformers sought to relocate authority with the Scriptures as they are interpreted by the individual believer. Martin Luther made the famous claim, “Only the Holy Scripture possesses canonical authority.” He discounted in turn the claims of magistrates, church councils, church fathers, bishops, and even the pope to authority over the Scriptures. John Calvin agreed: “God bestows the actual knowledge of himself upon us only in the Scriptures”; “Scripture has its authority from God, not from the church.”

With the reformers’ achievement the Protestant foundation blocks of the modern world were laid: a Bible which possesses objective meaning, theological positions which are certain and true, and Scriptural authority which is final and absolute.

The “modern” mind

While the religious world was experiencing this monumental conflict between ecclesiastical and Scriptural authority structures, the philosophical world was undergoing a struggle equally foundational and far-reaching.

Rene Descartes, a Catholic mathematician with an intense personal need to find foundational truth, sought that truth which he could not doubt. He determined that the existence of the thinking self was the first truth which doubt could not deny. As a result, he defined the human condition as one centered in the autonomous rational process. The “rationalist” worldview followed Descartes’ location of authority within human reason.

The empiricist reaction focused upon personal experience as the true authority for knowledge. John Locke asserted that the mind is born not with innate ideas (the Cartesian system) but as a blank slate, a tabula rasa. David Hume claimed that this empirical method cannot lead to true and certain knowledge. Every belief is derived from an object; our minds connect these objects into patterns on the basis of the appearance of unprovable causal relations. We cannot defend our reason by reason.

Immanuel Kant forged that merger between the rational and the empirical worldviews which organized the foundational building blocks of modernity into their final form. In short, his truce between mind and senses combined both into a larger whole: the senses furnish “raw data” which the mind organizes according to categories within itself, and the result is “knowledge.” However, according to this system we can have certain knowledge only of the “phenomena” (those objects which are present to the senses of the knower), not of the “noumena” (objects lying beyond sense experience). This distinction would prove to be crucial for the later shift from the “modern” to the “postmodern” world.

With the Kantian synthesis the philosophical foundation stones of the modern world were laid beside the Catholic and the Protestant. In all three, truth is certain and available, and epistemic authority is clear and absolute. Whether authority resides in the Church, the Scriptures, or empirical knowledge interpreted rationally, there is no question in the modern mind about its objective character.

The philosophical problem was this: there exists within the Kantian synthesis a subjective element undetected by most of its contemporary followers. In short, if knowledge is the result of our individual interpretation of our personal sense experience, then in what sense can this knowledge be objective? My sense impressions may be different from yours. My interpretation of this data is personal and subjective as well. Not only can I not know the “noumena” (the “thing-in-itself” which lies beyond my senses), I cannot claim objective authority for my interpretation of the “phenomena,” either.

The first “postmoderns”

First we must consider Friedrich Nietzsche, the “patron saint of postmodern philosophy.” According to this critic of the Christian faith, the world is composed of fragments, each one individual. We construct concepts which rob reality of its diversity and individuality (such as forming the concept “leaf” for leaves, an idea which can never do justice to the diversity of leaves). These concepts or laws are actually illusions or convenient fictions. “Truth” is solely a function of the language we employ and exists only within specific linguistic contexts. It is a function of the internal workings of language itself. The authority structure of the Church, whether centered on the Bible or the Church’s teachings, is therefore unfounded and irrelevant.

Nietzsche’s hermeneutical insights parallel Friedrich Schleiermacher’s earlier theological assertions. According to this “father of theological liberalism,” biblical texts are not systematic theological treatises but reflections of the minds and contexts of their authors. The interpreter must move behind the text to its author’s mind. The work of theology is therefore to “abstract entirely from the specific content of the particular Christian experiences.”

And so an entirely different epistemological foundation began to be laid by Nietzsche and Schleiermacher, one which rejected the objective building blocks of the modern world for a knowledge base centered in subjectivity. In their view, truth is not absolute and objective but relative and individual. Recent philosophers of language would soon finish this foundation and build a new house on it.

Finishing the new foundation

According to Wilhelm Dilthey, hermeneutics functions in a circle. We comprehend language by understanding its words, yet these words derive their meaning only within their holistic context. Objectivity in interpretation cannot be achieved, and should not be desired.

Hans-Georg Gadamer agreed that the interpreter must “fuse the horizons.” Meaning emerges only as the text and interpreter engage in dialogue, a “hermeneutical conversation.” Because each reader will conduct his or her own conversation with the text, objective meaning is obviously impossible.

Ludwig Wittgenstein rejected his earlier language philosophy (built on a scientific, mathematical, positivistic hermeneutic) for a view of language as “game.” Social rules determine the use of words and their meaning. Language is a social phenomenon which derives its meaning from social interaction. Since each “player” works from personal and subjective rules, there can be no objective authority within any speech act.

The “structuralists” further developed the social nature of language. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, language is like a work of music in which we focus on the whole work, not the individual performers of the musicians. As social constructs, texts are developed to provide structures of meaning in a meaningless existence. These structures form the foundation for hermeneutical theory and practice.

The movement known as “deconstructionism” moved even further toward subjectivity: meaning cannot be inherent in a text or speech act, but emerges only as the interpreter enters into dialogue with the author. One significant role of the contemporary interpreter is to deconstruct the modern epistemological structures with their mythical claims to objective authority.

In this century language philosophers have largely discarded the hermeneutical foundations which undergirded speech and faith since the time of Christ. Claims to objective truth and absolute authority have been dismissed, whether their source is the Church, the Scriptures, or interpreted experience. In their place we have seen the construction of a foundation and building called “postmodern.” The implications of this project for Scriptural authority are historic and monumental.

Building a postmodern world

The “postmodern” movement which has resulted from such foundational shifts is still evolving and ill-defined. However, three names stand above the rest in stature and significance: Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Richard Rorty.

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was the most significant bridge figure from Nietzsche to the postmodern world. He insisted that all language expresses power. There is no objective “world” behind our speech; “truth” is the fictional fabrication by which we seek to make sense of a senseless world.

Jacques Derrida critiques the Enlightenment ontology with the approach known as “deconstructionism.” According to him, there is no fixed or universal reality. Not only can we make no objective claims to knowledge, given the subjective nature of the interpretive process; there is no independent reality to describe. We “create” our own world by speaking of it. Language possesses no fixed meaning and is not connected to a fixed reality. Our words do not carry meaning (“logocentrism”); rather, they create it.

For instance, the device on which I typed this manuscript is either a word-processor, a fancy typewriter, or a strange box which makes annoying clicks, depending entirely on whether I, my grandfather, or my preschool friend is describing it. We cannot get beyond the words to the “reality,” for the words create that reality for us.

Richard Rorty, one of America’s most popular philosophers, completes the postmodern foundation by demonstrating its pragmatic usefulness for our daily lives. Rorty agrees with Foucault and Derrida that language is a matter of human convention, not the mirror of an objective reality. Because no foundational truths or “first principles” exist apart from our linguistic creation of them, we must develop our personal ways of coping with reality as we see it. “Truth” for us is what works for us. Language is therefore to be judged by its pragmatic value, not its supposed representation of objective reality. Language is a tool for interpreting and coping with life.

To sum up, the postmodern worldview is built upon three foundation stones. First, the ontological and epistemological belief that no reality exists independent of the linguistic interpretation of our personal experiences. Second, the linguistic belief that we literally create our own worlds by the speech we employ to describe and interpret these experiences. And third, the pragmatic belief that such language acts, when affirmed as mutually acceptable and equally valuable, forge a community of tolerance and shared, created purpose.

Arguing for truth in a day of subjectivity

What does this evolution in worldview mean for the “ethics of leadership”? Clearly it challenges our understanding of both terms and their significance today.

In the postmodern view, “ethics” are personal, subjective, and relative. There is no such thing as absolute truth. You have no right to force your beliefs on me. So long as we are sincere in our beliefs and tolerant of the beliefs of others, we’ll get along. No objective ethics can be posited or defended.

“Leadership” is equally subjective as a term and category. Since the “will to power” is the basic drive in human nature, leadership all too easily becomes an expression of this power motive. To defend an objective, even biblical view of leadership ethics, first we must defend the notion of objective truth.

First, a philosophical response. Unfortunately, one approach to postmodernism among evangelicals is to accept its foundational beliefs and attempt to build a Christian structure upon them. This results in an intensely subjective faith which possesses no intrinsic or objective merit for others. Fortunately, there are other ways.

I suggest that the postmodern rejection of objective truth contains within itself the fissures which may lead to its collapse. In brief, if no objective truth exists, how can I accept this assertion as objectively true? According to postmoderns, no statement possesses independent and objective truth. And yet the preceding statement is held to be independently and objectively true. This seems a bit like the ancient skeptics (ca. 500 BC) who claimed, “There is no such thing as certainty and we’re sure of it.”

A second philosophical critique of postmodernism centers in its rejection of objective ethics. Since all ethics are purely pragmatic and contextual, no ethical position can be judged or rejected by those outside its culture. If this be so, then how are we to view events such as the Holocaust? Within the interpretive culture of the Third Reich, Auschwitz and Dachau were pragmatically necessary and purposeful. And yet they stand as the quintessential rejection of the tolerance and inclusion so valued by postmoderns. The postmodern must choose between his insistence on inclusion and his rejection of intolerance. Logically, he cannot have both.

The postmodern rejection of objective biblical authority thus rests upon illogical and mutually contradictory foundational principles. This “apagogic” apologetic (defending one’s position by exposing the weaknesses of its opponents) may prove effective with the postmodern who values logical consistency.

If, however, our postmodern friend simply shrugs her shoulders and says, “So what”? we can turn to a pragmatic response. Here the postmodern rejection of modernity is in our favor. The chief obstacle to faith posed by modernity was its insistence on empirical proof and scientific verification. The postmodern rejects such a materialist worldview, insisting that all truth claims are equally (though relatively) valid. The result is a renewed interest in spirituality unprecedented in our century. While this contemporary spirituality is unfortunately embracing of all alternatives, at least Christianity can function as one of these options.

How can we make an appeal for biblical authority in such a marketplace of spiritual competitors? By reversing the “modern” strategy. In modernity we told our culture, “Christianity is true; it is therefore relevant and attractive.” We invited nonbelievers to accept the faith on the basis of its biblical, objective merits. “The Bible says” was all the authority our truth claims required.

In the postmodern culture we must use exactly the opposite strategy: our faith must be attractive; then it may be relevant; then it might be true (at least for its followers). If we can show the postmodern seeker for spiritual meaning that Christianity is attractive, interesting, and appealing, he will likely be willing to explore its relevance for his life. When he sees its relevance for us, he may decide to try it for himself. And when it “works,” he will decide that it is true for him. He will then affirm the authority of the Scriptures, not in order to come to faith but because he has.

Can such an approach be effective? If we jettison our “truth first” approach to biblical authority and begin by appealing to our culture on the basis of attractive relevance, will we abandon our Scriptural heritage? No–we will return to it.

We live in a postmodern, post-denominational, post-Christian culture. The first Christians lived in a pre-modern, pre-denominational, pre-Christian world. They had no hope of taking the gospel to the “ends of the earth” by beginning their appeal to the Gentiles with biblical authority. The larger Greek world shared the postmodern skepticism of any absolute truth claim, let alone those made on the basis of Hebrew Scriptures or a Jewish carpenter’s teachings. And so the apostolic Christians build their evangelistic efforts on personal relevance and practical ministry. The result was the beginning of the most powerful, popular, and far-reaching religious movement in history.

I am convinced that we are now living in a culture more like that of the apostolic Christians than any we have seen since their day. They had no buildings or institutions to which they could invite a skeptical world, and so they went to that world with the gospel. They had no objective authority base from which to work, so they demonstrated the authority of the Scriptures by their attractive, personal relevance. We now live in a day when nonbelievers will not come to our buildings to listen to our appeals on the basis of Scriptural authority. But when we show them the pragmatic value of biblical truth in our lives, ministries, and community, we will gain a hearing.

Postmodernity offers us a compelling opportunity to “remember our future.” To remember the biblical strategies upon which the Christian movement was founded, and to rebuild our ministries on their foundation. To move into our postmodern future on the basis of our premodern heritage.

The ethics of leadership in a post-modern context

What are the practical implications of a culture which questions an objective understanding of “ethics” and “leadership”? My assertion is this: effective leadership today must be transformational rather than positional. Positional leaders assume an authority derived from their title or place within the organization. Postmodern culture questions all such assumed or inherent authority claims.

Transformational leaders, by contrast, earn the right to lead by enabling the organization to achieve its mutually-agreed upon measures of success. Such leaders empower and encourage those they lead, transforming the organization with a culture of community. This approach alone ensures sustained success in our post-modern worldview. How is transformational leadership achieved?

Choose servant leadership

First, our postmodern culture requires leadership built on relationship and servanthood. Bernard Swain describes the four types of leadership:

•Sovereign: the leader determines both the vision and its implementation

•Parallel: the leader serves the organization as it seeks and fulfills its vision collectively

•Mutual: the leader serves as a member of a team which shares its duties and responsibilities

•Semi-mutual: the leader defines the vision and direction of the organization, then serves its members as they achieve that vision through their own initiatives and efforts.

Our context requires and rewards a semi-mutual leadership style. Effective leaders know and define their passion and that of their organization, then serve and empower its members to fulfill that vision in a collective and collaborative spirit.

Oswald Sanders, in his now-classic Spiritual Leadership, claims that “true greatness, true leadership, is found in giving yourself in service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to serve you.” Max DePree, the former CEO of Herman Miller and author of bestselling leadership literature, defines leadership:

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.

Would those you lead say that you serve them, or that they serve you?

Know your strengths

A collaborative servant leadership style builds mutuality and community. It requires that leaders know their strengths and weaknesses, and be enthusiastic about delegating responsibility and authority to those who complement and supplement their gifts. Peter Drucker, often called the “father of modern leadership theory,” distinguished four personalities needed for the tasks of top management:

•The “thought” person

•The “action” person

•The “people” person

•The “front” person.

Drucker believed that these four temperaments are almost never found in a single person and warned, “the one-man top management job is a major reason why businesses fail to grow.”

A servant leader in postmodern context will celebrate the gifts and passions of those he or she serves in the organization. Who are you empowering and encouraging as they join you in fulfilling your organization’s vision?

Choose personal integrity

The leader’s personal character is foundational to success in a culture which disparages positional authority. Sanders quotes the great military leader Bernard Montgomery: “Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose, and the character which inspires confidence.” The second is essential to the first.

Warren Bennis is the University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California. In 1976 he warned us about the “unconscious conspiracy” in every organization to maintain the status-quo for the future benefits of current participants. The solution is for leaders to empower their followers to fulfill the organization’s collective vision for the benefit of its members and customers. To do so, leaders must embody four critical competencies:

•Management of attention

•Management of meaning

•Management of trust

•Management of self.

In a culture which depreciates leadership by position, it is essential that we earn the right to lead by virtue of our personal character. We cannot ask people to do what we are unwilling to do, or go further than we are willing to lead. What the leader is, the organization becomes.

DePree cites Mahatma Gandhi’s list of the seven sins in the world:

•Wealth without work

•Pleasure without conscience

•Knowledge without character

•Commerce without morality

•Science without humanity

•Worship without sacrifice

•Politics without principle.

Because character is so central to effective leadership today, spiritual formation is now indispensible for leaders. If the members of your organization were as committed to personal integrity as you are, would that be good for your colleagues and customers?

Conclusion/Discussion

My argument is that the post-modern context challenges positional leadership assumptions, requiring leaders to transform their organization through service, community and integrity. Such leaders enable and empower their followers to achieve mutual goals in an environment of sustained success.

How does such an approach to leadership relate to the challenges facing those of you who lead professional health care providers? Let’s discuss three areas of application.

First, would you specify case examples of leadership challenges you face? Let’s discuss ways a transformational leader could approach these challenges.

Second, given the vital role which character and integrity play in post-modern leadership, what personal ethical and religious resources encourage you in your work?

Third, what professional and religious/spiritual community sources can you identify as assisting you as leaders in health care?

When Allied armies advanced on the North African port of Eritrea during World War II, the fleeing Axis forces did an ingenious thing. They loaded barges with concrete and sank them across the mouth of the harbor, making it impossible for the approaching troops to enter. But the Allies hit on an even more inventive solution. They emptied several gigantic oil tanks, the kind which hold one hundred thousand barrels of oil and more, and sealed them watertight. They attached chains to each of them. Then at low tide their divers attached the other ends of the chains to the barges sitting on the bottom of the harbor. And when the tides rose, their power was so great that they lifted the sealed oil tanks and the cement-filled barges with them. It was then an easy task to dispose of the barges and reopen the harbor.

This power of the tides inspired Shakespeare to pen these immortal words:

There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyages of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat;

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures (Julius Caesar, Act IV, scene II).

If we embrace the challenge of servant leadership in the postmodern tides of our day as transformational leaders who serve, build community and lead by example, we will “take the current when it serves” and become the most effective leaders we can be. May it be so for each of us today.

The Faith of the First Christians

Written by

God’s Power for God’s Purpose

The Faith of the First Christians

Dr. Jim Denison

Acts 1

A friend once sent me some statements taken from performance evaluation sheets of government employees. Among them:

“His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity.”

“Got into the gene pool while the lifeguard wasn’t watching.”

“Got a full six-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together.”

“Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.”

“If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week.”

“Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.”

“Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.”

“This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.”

Fortunately, the Lord feels very differently about those you will teach this Sunday. They are his answer to the world’s crying need for hope, help, and home. They are his salt and light, his hands and feet. Each person you will teach is called to be his disciple—a fully functioning follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord has called you to be their discipler. Your ministry exists to help them find and fulfill theirs. You are the one person in our congregation most responsible for the spiritual development of those you teach and serve.

The first followers of Jesus were in exactly your position. It would be their job to bring all who would follow their Lord into full maturity in the faith. How would they do it? How will we?

Walk with the Lord personally (Acts 1:1-5)

First, we must possess that which we intend to give. We cannot lead others further than we are willing to go. I still remember the impact Henri Nouwen’s statement made on me when I first encountered it: “The great fallacy of our age is to believe we can be led out of the desert by a person who’s never been there.” Your class will heed your words only if they can first follow your example. We must be what we wish others to become.

Luke begins his second book with the same dedication which began his gospel (see last week’s introduction to Acts). His purpose in the first volume was to tell Theophilus about Jesus’ earthly ministry, all that he “began to do and to teach” (v. 1). Jesus knew the importance of setting an example, as did Luke. He recorded first our Lord’s actions, then his teachings.

His Gospel ended with the ascension of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:2; cf. Luke 24:50-53). His second volume picks up where the first left off: with the coming of the Spirit. Before Pentecost, however, the Master Teacher spent 40 more days with his followers. He proved his resurrection to them (v. 3), as it would be the crucial fact upon which the faith would be built (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:17-20). Then he taught them further on the Kingdom of God, the central subject of his life and work (v. 3a).

Finally, he urged them not to leave Jerusalem to begin their ministries until they possessed the “gift my Father promised” (v. 4), the “Holy Spirit” (v. 5). They could not serve their Master until they possessed his power.

Neither can we. We must walk with Jesus as fully as did his first disciples. He proves his resurrection to us when we meet with him each morning in prayer, Bible study, and worship. During the turbulent 60s, a reporter asked Billy Graham what he thought about the popular assertion, “God is dead.” Dr. Graham replied, “God is not dead—I spoke with him this morning.” We learn that our Lord is risen and alive every time we meet with him.

As we commune with him, he teaches us more about his Kingdom through his word. And he empowers us to live in that Kingdom and extend its reach as we depend upon his Spirit. Each day we are to ask the Holy Spirit to show us our sins, then confess them by faith (1 John 1:9). Then we are to yield that day to the Spirit’s control and guidance (Ephesians 5:18). When we take these daily steps, we experience the presence and power of Jesus as fully as did his first followers.

In the midst of a stormy sea voyage, one young soldier could stand the dread and anxiety of the ship no longer. He rushed to the control room and watched the captain wrestle with the controls of the huge ship. With skill and strength, he guided the vessel to clear water. Then he turned slightly, looked at the frightened sailor, and smiled. The young sailor returned below deck and assured the crew that the danger was over. “How do you know?” they asked. He answered, “I saw the face of the captain, and he smiled at me.”

Look on his face daily. And those you teach and influence will want the faith and joy you possess.

Seek his purpose passionately (vs. 6-8)

Perhaps you’ve heard the old story about the famous country farmer marksman. His aim with bow and arrow was legendary—he never missed the bulls-eye of his targets. A reporter went to investigate. He found arrows stuck all over the side of the farmer’s barn, dead-center in the bulls-eye. Then he watched the farmer shoot. He would let fly the arrow, then paint the target around it. The axiom is still true: if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. Only when we seek God’s purpose passionately can we fulfill it.

Jesus wanted his followers to understand clearly this purpose. They, like us, were more interested in predicting the future (v. 6); he is always more interested in redeeming the present (v. 7). None of us was placed on the planning committee, but on the preparation committee. We are to live each day as though our Lord will return this day. And one day we’ll all be right.

Remember the essentials of God’s plan for his people:

Our purpose: “you will be my witnesses.” A “witness” in a courtroom is a person who tells what he or she has experienced personally. We are all such, each day. At question is only whether we fulfill this purpose poorly or well. We are the Bible people read.

Our people: “you” will be my witnesses. “You” is plural in the Greek. There is no clergy-laity distinction here, or anywhere else in the Scriptures. Every member is a minister. We can reach the world with the gospel only when each one of us finds and fulfills our personal ministries.

Our power: the Holy Spirit will enable us to fulfill this purpose. We cannot win a single soul, change a single heart, or redeem a single life. Only the Spirit can convict us of sin and transform our lives. Your work can be accomplished only when the Spirit does it through you.

Our priorities: we are to begin in our Jerusalem, then extend our ministries to the “ends of the earth.” Every life you touch today is part of your mission field. Each person in your class should have a personal Acts 1:8 strategy. Beginning with you.

Fulfill his will urgently (vs. 9-11)

After Jesus made clear his plan one last time, he ascended back to his Father (v. 9). The ascension of Jesus is as real a fact as his resurrection, and as miraculous. One more time he gave his followers reason to believe in his divinity and serve his Kingdom.

Now our Lord reigns in heaven with the Father. We know these facts about his present place and rule:

He reigns as Lord: “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

He reigns over spiritual powers: “[Jesus] has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:22).

He reigns over the world: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

He reigns over the church: “[Christ] is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:18).

He reigns in worship: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise” (Revelation 5:12).

He reigns as Lord: “Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9).

And one day he will return to the planet from which he ascended (Acts 1:10-11). The disciples were “looking intently” up into the sky; the words mean to stare with intense purpose. Then angels sent them about their business: don’t focus on Jesus’ departure, but prepare for his arrival.

We don’t know the timing or manner in which our Lord will return, for the simple reason that such information is of no practical application to our lives today. Greek philosophers were interested in speculative discussions; the Hebrew mindset was intensely practical and present-tense in orientation.

The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to the dinosaurs or how many years ago creation began, because such knowledge would not change your life as you read these words. If you and I knew exactly how Jesus would return to our planet, such information would change nothing about our lives and work in this moment.

The Bible doesn’t tell us all we wish we knew, but all we need to know. Mark Twain was right: it’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me—it’s the parts I do understand.

Yield to his will specifically (vs. 12-26)

The last half of Acts 1 describes events which are less relevant to our lives and faith today than those we have studied so far. But the principles which these events teach have direct application to our work in following Jesus, especially when we face times where we must know God’s will for our next steps in faith.

Obey Jesus now (v. 12)

The disciples did exactly what their Lord had commanded them: “they returned to Jerusalem.” He had told them to wait there for the coming of the Spirit (v. 4). This despite the obvious dangers inherent in such a decision. The same authorities who had arranged Jesus’ crucifixion would likely be looking to eliminate his followers.

To return to Jerusalem was ill advised at best. But our Lord’s will is not always rational for us at the moment we receive it. Obedience leads to understanding, seldom the other way around. Obey that part of God’s will which you do understand. Do what you know to do, today.

Pray together constantly (vs. 13-14)

The “homogeneous church growth principle” suggests that churches grow best when they try to become and reach only a single kind of person. Jesus’ disciples give the lie to such an approach. No more disparate group was ever assembled on the face of the earth. Among them was Matthew the tax collector, whose former life had supported Rome in every way, coupled with Simon, the zealot who was pledged to the violent overthrow of the Empire. Peter, the man who denied Christ three times, prayed at the side of John, who refused to leave his Lord’s side. Jesus’ brothers, men who had denied his divinity, prayed with disciples who had staked their lives on it.

They all “joined together” (v. 14a)—the phrase means that they met in unity. The closer we get to the Lord, the closer we get to each other. When was the last time your class met together for no reason except to pray together?

These first Christians met together for a specific reason: to pray for God’s Kingdom to come to their lives and city. Chuck Swindoll is right: we can do much for God after we pray, but nothing until we pray. With whom will you pray together for God’s will to be done in your lives today?

Interpret life biblically (vs. 15-20)

Peter then stood and addressed the assembled group from the wisdom and word of God. He explained the fact of Judas’ betrayal as a fulfillment of David’s prediction, leading to an open opportunity for another to fulfill his leadership call (Psalms 69:25; 109:8).

Judas’ betrayal led to his suicide by hanging (Mathew. 27:5). After his death, either his body decayed in the manner Peter describes (v. 18), or was cut down with the described result. In this way, Matthew’s account is completed by Peter’s.

Judas’ actions did not prevent the purpose of God—they helped to complete it. When we interpret all that happens to us in light of the word and will of God, we are able to see his larger purposes and fulfill them by our own faithfulness.

When I taught science and faith classes at Southwestern Seminary, I encouraged my students to interpret science through the eyes of Scripture, not the reverse. Scientific “laws” are always being adapted to new discoveries, as is appropriate. But the word of God does not change; it is always his revelation to his people (cf. Hebrews 4:12).

When we seek biblical principles for responding to the circumstances of our days, we will walk in the will and power of our Father.

Trust his will personally (vs. 21-26)

Now the church must choose the person to take Judas’ place of leadership. This was a crucial decision, with much resting on the outcome. If the person chosen turned out to be a traitor like Judas, they could all die and their movement with them. They must step by sacrificial and personal faith into God’s will.

They established guidelines for apostleship: the person must have been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry (vs. 21-22), and be willing to become “a witness with us of his resurrection” (v. 22b). Two men qualified: Joseph called Barsabbas, and Matthias. Their existence shows that more followed Jesus than we find named in the gospels. We are not told that these are the only two who met apostolic qualifications, but that they were the two “proposed” by the church (v. 23).

The apostles sought God’s will in this specific matter, through urgent and heartfelt prayer (v. 24). They then “cast lots” (v. 26), a typical Old Testament procedure for seeking the will of God (cf. 1 Chronicles 26:13-16). Most likely these were two squares or discs; when they both fell “up,” the positive resulted; when they both fell “down,” the negative was interpreted. In this case, the apostles may have written the names of the two men on two discs; whichever name came up on both was determined to be their answer.

Using such tools was in no sense gambling or stepping away from God’s will. Those who used these implements trusted that God would guide the stones or discs to reveal his will. Praying for God to “open or close doors,” or asking him to act in other circumstantial ways, is no less a belief that our Father will use events to disclose his will. Nonetheless, this is the last time “lots” were used in the Bible.

Matthias was the result of their prayer and lot-casting, so “he was added to the eleven apostles” (v. 26). This is the last we hear of him, causing some to suggest that he was not God’s will for Judas’ place among the apostles. Some go further, asserting that Paul was the twelfth apostle meant by God. But the fact that Matthias is not mentioned again in the New Testament is not a conclusive fact, for we hear no more from seven of the other apostles listed in verse 13. Such an argument from silence is speculative at best.

Where do you find yourself needing to know God’s will and purpose for your life today? Follow the example of these first Christians: obey what you know of God’s will, now. Pray with others, constantly. Interpret the events of your life through the eyes and revelation of Scripture. Trust his will personally as he reveals it to you, believing that it is “good, acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). And he will guide you through each step of your path in his will and ultimate purpose for your life.

Conclusions

Norman Vincent Peale once compared God’s will to a flashlight in the dark. The light does not show us all the way to our destination, but merely the next step to take. As we walk in the light we have, step by step, we find our way home.

Acts 1 has given you all the light you need for your next steps in the dark: walk with your Lord personally; seek his purpose passionately; fulfill his will urgently; and yield to his will personally. Lead your class members to do the same, by your example and by your teachings.

Imagine the results if every person who studies this text this week were to adopt its principles. And you have a glimpse into the mind and purpose of God for us all.

The Family’s True Success

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The Family’s True Success

Ephesians 6:1-4

Dr. Jim Denison

Anna Jarvis initiated the idea of Mother’s Day in 1905, to honor the memory of her deceased mother. Nine years later, President Woodrow Wilson made this day a national observance. By Ms. Jarvis’s death, 43 countries around the world had joined the observance. We typically use carnations, because they were Anna Jarvis’s mother’s favorite flower.

There’s something in the human condition that wants to honor our mothers.

We fathers recognize this fact, and kid about it. We know that more collect calls are placed on Father’s Day than any other day of the year. People say, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” but no one says that about fathers. When’s the last time you saw someone at a football game hold up a sign which said, “Hi Dad!?”

But we fathers are grateful for Mother’s Day. And we should be—more than we know. I have come to believe that Mother’s Day was God’s idea before it was Anna Jarvis’s, that this is not just a holiday but a holy day. That God intends to do crucial work with our souls today—work which can transform our families, our marriages, our community, and our nation.

This morning God will show us the gifts we are to give our mothers, and mothers their children. And we’ll learn why they are so important, so vital, so essential—long after the presents we give today are gone.

Gifts for every home

First, God’s word tells you what to give your mother. Cards, flowers, and candy are our most popular gifts. And consumers plan to spend 36% more on them this year than last year. But all our gifts will be gone in a week.

What gifts truly matter?

“Children”—this text is addressed to all of us who have parents, whatever our age or theirs. So long as you have a living parent, you must hear and heed this command. And after they are gone, you must do it to honor their memory and extend their legacy.

“Obey your parents”—”obey” means to hear their counsel and advice, and then do it. Its synonyms in the Greek include “follow,” “be subject to,” “surrender to.” The command is a picture of complete obedience.

Know that Paul’s words are in the continuous imperative tense, a command to be repeated constantly. “Keep on obeying your parents.” Whether you want to or not, whether you agree with them or not. Obedience is our first gift to our mothers.

Honor is the second. “Honor your father and mother” is a direct quote of the fifth commandment.

To “honor” means to love, respect, reverence. Find ways to make her know how important and valuable she is to you.

This is also in the continuous imperative: continually honor her. This, too, is God’s direct command to every child of a parent, no matter our age or theirs.

Now God’s word tells parents what to give our children: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (v. 4).

In Paul’s day, the responsibility for spiritual training rested exclusively with the father. The mother often was not literate or trained in Scripture. Today this responsibility is given to both fathers and mothers. And both must heed it carefully.

“Exasperate” means to discourage or provoke. Said positively, this command is, “Parents, encourage your children.” How? “Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” How do we do this?

Model the Christian life for them. No child will think more of his Heavenly Father than he does of his earthly parents. We cannot lead our children farther than we are willing to travel. Show them Christ consistently by your words and actions. Be the same person when you talk on the phone as when you hang up; the same person in the car driving to church as you are at church. Show them Jesus.

Teach the Christian life to them. Tragically, gone is the day in most homes when parents pray with their children daily and teach God’s word to them. It’s never too late to begin. And it’s never been more urgent. Make time every day to pray together. Keep a prayer book so you can watch God answer your prayers. Spend time studying the Bible together every day. Worship God together with your faith family every week. You would not think of going a day without feeding your children physically. Take the same responsibility for feeding them spiritually.

Your church has your school age children 1% of their time, their school 16% of their time. You have them 83% of their time. And the first responsibility for their souls.

For most of us, keeping these commands is easy. We trust and love our mother. We appreciate her wisdom and reverence her. As parents, our children are willing to follow our leadership and appreciative of our spiritual guidance.

For some of us, however, these commands are hard. Mother’s Day is not an easy day for all of us. Some of you were abandoned by your mother, physically or emotionally. Some of you had very difficult family circumstances. Some of you are in hard environments this morning. Some of you are dealing with rebellious children today. How do you keep these commands?

For obedience to your parents, there is this crucial qualification: “obey your parents in the Lord.” Submit to your parents’ authority and wishes, unless they want you to disobey God. Unless you must violate his word or will to do so. Unless there is clear biblical teaching to the contrary, you and I are to do what our parents tell us to do.

For honoring your parents, there is this crucial fact: God’s word calls us to honor the position, even if we cannot honor the person. To respect our parents because they are our parents. This is a choice we make, not a gift they must earn. Even if we cannot honor something they have done, we can honor the position they hold in our lives.

For parents, verse 4 is God’s will for us whatever the response of our children. Even if they are not willing to follow us, we must lead them. You may be the father of a prodigal, waiting and praying and pacing and watching. Never give up. One day he will “come to himself” and come home, if he knows you want him to.

Why give these gifts (2b-3)

To summarize: God calls us to obey and honor godly parents, and to be godly parents. Now, why are these commands so crucial to our families, our culture, and our nation? Paul gives us God’s answer: “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” This is the first of the Ten Commandments given to us with a promise. And such a promise this is. Let’s unpack it for a moment, and learn two facts.

First, obedience and honor for our parents are prerequisites to the blessings of God on our families and society. Not because these commitments earn God’s favor, but because they position us to receive the prosperity and blessing God wants to give.

Imagine for a moment a nation in which every person obeyed these simple commands. A nation in which every child obeyed his parents in the Lord, in which parents were godly and children were obedient to their godly leadership. A nation in which every child honored his mother and father with his actions, motives, and thoughts. Imagine how God could bless and prosper such a nation. “That it may go well with you” is his promise to such a people.

Could it be that our nation’s problems have roots in this very issue? One writer described America’s current state perceptively:

“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; bigger freeways, but smaller souls. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but less answers; more medicine, but less health.

“We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, but not life to years. We’ve been to the moon and back, but won’t cross the street to meet a neighbor.

“We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.

“These are the times of tall men and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships; more leisure but less fun; more food but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce; fancier houses but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw-away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.”

To be sure, not all the problems in our nation or your family stem from disobedience to godly parents. Natural disasters and diseases are part of our fallen world. Terrorist attacks result from free will misused horrifically. But think back over your life and that of your family. How many problems could have been avoided by obedience to these simple rules for living?

Second, obedience to godly parents is crucial to the souls of our children.

Do not take for granted the spiritual health of your children. Just because they are in church does not mean they are close to God. Satan tempts them just as harshly as anyone else, perhaps more so. And he knows that the best way to hurt us is to hurt them. He is a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. And he’s after your kids.

I discovered these facts this week: the top discipline problems in school today are rape, robbery, assault, burglary, arson, bombing, and murder. More than half of America’s teenagers believe that a murderous rampage could erupt at their school. Immoral peer pressure is enormous: 52% of high school seniors have used alcohol in the last month; marijuana and cocaine use among teenagers has doubled in the last decade; 1.1 million teenagers are addicted to gambling; the number of teenagers having cosmetic surgery has doubled in the last seven years; three million adolescents will become infected with a sexually-transmitted disease this year; teenage pregnancies have increased 500% in the last generation. Then average teenager will spend 12,000 hours in school but 15,000 hours watching television. 68% say they pay more attention to their own views than God’s.

Can you see what our young people are facing? There is a spiritual war going on for their future and ours. God says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). We must fight this war with spiritual weapons. Being godly parents is crucial; obeying godly parents is vital. The souls of the next generation are at stake.

Conclusion

So, where do you need to do business with God for the sake of your family today?

Children of all ages: are you living in rebellion against your parents? Deceit or resentment? Dishonor? Has it simply been a while since you honored your mother, since you told her how much you love her and how valuable she is to you? If we are not right with our parents, we are wrong with God. And with ourselves.

Parents of all ages: are you feeding your children’s souls? By your example and teaching? What if they became what you are spiritually? Probably they will.

Let’s turn Mother’s Day from a holiday to a holy day. Let’s decide to obey God’s word, right now.

Our church is committed passionately to children and families. This is why Martha Howard would teach five year olds for 53 years. It’s why our capital project is so crucial, so we can build space for our preschoolers, children, and youth, and give to the next generation what the last generation gave to us. By God’s grace, we will see our children become God’s children as we follow him by faith. Then every child can know God as this child does. Of all the wonderful correspondence I’ve received regarding our capital expansion, here’s the finest letter yet:

Dear Dr. Denison,

I decided to have a garage sale to help raise money for our new building. We have not had it yet, but we will before the end of May. Here is the money I think I can make. I’m real excited about the new library and hamburger place. I used to go there with Mommy during the week. We have two new babies now and our stroller doesn’t make it down the stairs very easily. I saw you on the video. I like the picture of the building going up.

Thank you for working so hard so I can have a new library and hamburger place.

Your friend,

Alexander Coronado, 4

Let’s commit our families to true success. Let’s choose to obey and honor parents, and to be godly parents. For every Alexander in Dallas and beyond, to the glory of God.