What Does it Mean to Make a Brother Stumble?

One of the things that always comes up when you speak of tattoos, smoking, drinking, et al is the issue of making a brother stumble to show why one should abstain from doing those things at all. When one proof texts and reads current culture into the passages, they seem to have a great point and one that kept me under a heavy yoke for some time. What actually ended up happening is that this so called "weaker brother" kept me under his yoke of conscience instead of me being able to seek out Christ and his easy yoke and burden that is light. I kept trying to refrain from certain things because I was always worried that I would make a brother stumble and was so consumed by this, my life was more about the weaker brother and his issues than the glorifying of God in my actions and actually loving the weaker brother.

We have extremes here that need to be pointed out. One extreme is like the one mentioned above, where we worry about everything, whether it is sin or not and abstain from it all. The other extreme is we say, "screw the weaker brother" and we do whatever we want without care. Like most orthopraxy, extremes suck and fly in the face of Christ and his cross and, so, we need to find the correct balance and test it to Scripture. I want to do some defining to search out how we should live within the context of the weaker brother and what it means to make him stumble.

First, what is a "weaker brother"?

We find the main passages concerning the weaker brother in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 and also in Romans 14. The weaker brother is the one who wishes to abstain from certain things. They are not the mature in the body, but they are the weak needing care. These people would be those who abstain from things that are not sinful, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, getting tattoos and of course eating meat sacrificed to idols. But, if you know the context of 1 Corinthians 8, 10 and Romans 14 we are not speaking of people who have merely been told that these things were sinful, but have a deep bond that ties the conscience to them. The weaker brother would be someone who has been addicted to smoking or alcohol, or who has a family history of addiction to these things. The weaker brother would be someone who came from a tribe who used to tattoo themselves for the sake of their pagan gods. The weaker brother is one who was in an idolatrous nation that sacrificed meat to gods for worship. These things are deeply entrenched in who they are and what they are about. These things identify them with the "old self."

The weaker brother is NOT someone who has issue with these things because of their culture and how they were brought up. One is not a mere weaker brother because they have always been taught that smoking is a sin or that drinking alcohol is a sin. Paul goes much deeper than this and is found when he uses the term to "destroy" the weaker brother (which we will handle later).

Paul and Jerusalem Council are dealing with a much deeper issue than someone not liking meat sacrificed to idols, they were dealing with an issue that was deeply ingrained in the people that practiced idolatry in a way that was demonic and part of every day life that associated one with the devil. Again, it would be the same as getting a tattoo for the dead in Leviticus 19:28 to worship some pagan deity. This was binding on the conscience, not because it was "odd" to them, or they were uncomfortable with it, but they were dealing with demonic opposition and something that identified them with their old self when their father was the devil.

So, the weaker brother is not merely some nutcase that wants you to abstain from something they don't like, the weaker brother is someone who is coming from an old life in sin, that is dealing with those things associated directly with their sin. Again, think of pagan worship in sacrifices when thinking of 1 Corinthians 8,10 and Romans 14.

Making the Weaker Brother Stumble

Now that we see what is means to be a weaker brother, we need to look at making that brother stumble. This term stumble is used almost synonymously with Paul using the term "destroy". Paul isn't speaking of making someone look at you in a light that is odd. It isn't making someone uncomfortable, but it is literally making them stumble into sin. It would be like you handing someone a beer that you know is an alcoholic and telling them to drink. You, in your freedom, have made the weaker brother stumble or have destroyed them. The thought is putting something (a rock) in the road that they are walking on so that they will trip and severely hurt themselves.

People use this for all sorts of things, as though we must have a swivel on our heads to make sure people don't look at us and think we are sinning. This isn't what Paul is speaking on. If this is the case, then Jesus was a sinner. He did things all the time that made people think he was a sinner, but he didn't make them sin. Think of the Pharisees of those that wear suits to church, don't drink, don't smoke, don't play cards, don't watch certain movies, listen to certain music. They do this so that they "will not make someone stumble", but in reality are showing that your sanctification and righteousness comes in what you don't do instead of whom you trust in. Jesus was not for this. What is interesting is that the term "stumble" can be both positive and negative. You can make someone stumble into sin, or make them stumble into righteousness.

"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,"and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

1 Peter 2:6-8

This is the point that no one actually brings up. If someone is trying to be self righteous in their abstention, the best thing you can do is be a stumbling block to them so that they can see that Christ is the corner stone of their faith, not their abstention for self righteousness. This brother, that abstains for the sake of self righteousness (which none of them will admit) is not the weaker brother, but the prideful brother that needs to be shown their sinful acts. This is why Jesus didn't care if he drank in public, ate with the sinners and loved the hookers. He did it partly to show the self righteous Pharisees their stupidity. We find further evidence of this when Peter has his vision and then eats with the Gentiles. Notice what the self righteous Jews do:

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
Acts 11:2

Did Peter then decide to abstain from eating with them? No, he corrected their self righteous thoughts by telling them the vision of God and using this an opportunity to show the gospel to them. Here is the key. Someone who loves Jesus and not their self righteous deeds will react to this by not condemning the brother living in his freedom but will praise God.

When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
Acts 11:18

Could this have been a stone of stumbling for these Jews? Yes. Did Peter refrain, or teach? He taught. Their reaction is an insight to their heart towards the love of God. They reject their self righteousness and cling to their new found Saviour.

So, Now What?

How are we to handle this then? You will notice that Paul has a huge point that he makes when speaking of refraining, and it does not mean that he will refrain always, only when he is knowingly among those whom bears a conscience against meat sacrificed to idols. People like to use Paul's hyperbolic term to bear witness against this when Paul says, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." Paul is using this in speaking to someone he is directly in relationship with at all times, not for the sake of believers out there somewhere who have issues with this. Meaning, if Timothy had issues with this, Paul would never eat meat in fellowship with Timothy. He doesn't mean, he will literally never touch meat again. We see this clearly in the following:

If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake — the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:27-31

Paul states to enjoy your freedom, but to refrain when among someone who has a conscience against something. So, if I am going to a nation of tribes who once used tattoos to worship their god, I will cover up my tattoos. I will do this because this is something that is personal to them and hard for them to take. I will also cover up my tattoos if I go into a home where I know tattoos used to be a way for the person to sin against God in rebellion and they are trying to refrain from such things. I do this with those I KNOWLINGLY have deep issues with certain things that is related and identified to their old life of sin. So is the case with having a vegan over to my house, an alcoholic or someone who was addicted to smoking.

But, it doesn't stop here. You don't just refrain when you see these people, but you take the opportunity to teach them. You must teach the weaker, and not allow them to "turn you" into their weaker conscience. This was huge for the ministry of Christ. He was the one teaching the weaker, the weaker were not teaching him to turn to their ways. So, we should deal with the gospel with these people and love and aid them to the grace and freedom found at the cross.

Refrain out of love and teach out of love so that they may be won to the victory of the cross. There is a balance here. But, to throw out the "you might make a brother stumble" has become another way to control the actions of others to make them think they are more righteous. This is sin and contrary to the gospel. Also, those who freely do whatever they want without taking consideration of the TRUE weaker brother and don't take the opportunity to teach them in word and action what the Gospel is truly about, also sin.

We must live and teach the gospel to others without allowing them to bound up our actions so that we find the gospel as a restrictive gospel instead of a freeing one.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:29-30

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9 Mostest Weirdest Stories of the Bible

I figured I would change things up some. I have not been able to have fun on the blog in a while as I have been doing a lot of posts and studies on Muslim/Christian relations. Hardly appropriate to drop funny lines when speaking of that topic. But, being that I like to both study the Bible and write humorously, I am trying to figure out why I haven't done this before. If you are new to this blog, I apologize ahead of time on my humor and writing style as I embark on this odd blog series. If you want to get used to what this might look like, I would tell you to take a look at my blog series called, "10 Steps to Become a Legalist." Which, I have to be honest, was one of my favorite blog series I have ever done. And, oddly, a pastor of a pretty large church in Alabama asked to use those blog posts for a sermon series.

My goals for this series are the following:

1. Have some fun and make you laugh. I am what some would call, an equal opportunity basher. I will make fun you at some point in this series. Please laugh. I will make fun of myself probably more. Please pray for my self-deprecating attitude with my idiosyncrasies.

2. Get people excited about the Old Testament. Let's be honest. Most people don't read the Old Testament unless their Sunday School teacher forces them to study through it to prove something. We all know that these teachers are usually monotone, and seem to take pleasure in picking out the most dry passages in the Old Testament and then taking two years going through them. All the while, feeling like he is more righteous because he gleans so much from these passages as you try and keep your head from bobbing while falling asleep. Probably why the Southern Baptists created the "quarter system" for Sunday School.

3. Get people to worship God and his glory through these passages. Most teachers are clueless on what the Old Testament is really about and how it connects with the overall story of God and His glory. The above mentioned baby sitters, I mean "teachers", love to tell you how to make yourself more like David or less like David, depending on the passage. They love to give you a list to follow so your faith can be like David's, or give you a list to follow so you don't murder a woman's husband after you have sex with her because you are a peeping Tom watching her take a bath. What these teachers miss, is that maybe these stories are telling us more about the glory of God, than how we can better ourselves.

So, these are my thoughts on why I want to go through these passages. Why 9? Because 9 is a strange number with no secret biblical code to unlock. At least I haven't found it to be one of yet with the bible code detector ring from my Rob Bell: You too can have faith like Peter's, Wheaties' box.

I also want to include you, the reader, to help me out. What are some weird stories that you have read in the Bible that you have no idea why they are there and have no idea how they would point to the glory of God. Or, are just plain odd and you think are funny. Because lets be honest...funny brings readers. Readers bring comments. Comments bring...well nothing really because I do this stupid blog for free and have never made a penny doing it. But, comments make me feel important, and might get me a Sunday School gig at your local 4th First Baptist Church.

So, either comment here, hit me up on twitter or Facebook or email me what weird stories you would like to see in this countdown of sorts.

Hopefully this will be a great series that will be enjoyable for everyone involved. And, I hope to make fun of you...a lot. But only so you see your weirdness and look more to Jesus.

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Jesus Loves Me and My Tattoos

I recently have added to my tattoo repertoire and this one is the one I am excited about most. Has a lot of meaning behind it and will look amazing when done. It will be one of those tats that when someone says, "your tat looks pimp" I will just have to respond by saying, "I know." I put up the first pics of the outline on Facebook and was then emailed the following from someone that I don't know personally:

Out of curiosity, would you consider yourself a Christian? I'm curious to know your thinking on getting tattoos in light of Leviticus 19:28...

Now, this seems to be an honest question and so I will not respond in a sarcastic light. As long as honesty is prevalent, I will respond in like form. Which sucks for my readers, but for the questioner, is out of respect.

So, here is the verse in question:

You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD. (NASB)

Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD (KJV)

These two really sum up the correct translation of this Old Testament verse. It seems pretty cut and dry that one should abstain from tattoo marks or print marks on the body. But is it?

In Bible interpretation, one of the first things you must seek is context. If you don't look in context you will make some grave errors. One of the easiest ways to point this out, in an elementary form, is that the Bible says, "There is no God." Of course context shows that the verse actually says, "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good." (Psalm 14:1) I know that is basic, but so is the look at our verse above that mentions tattoos or marks on the body.

It is widely believed among Biblical scholars that Leviticus 19:28 refers to an ancient practice in the Middle East of people cutting themselves and rubbing in ash when in a period of mourning after an individual had died. It was a sign of respect for the dead and a symbol of respect and reverence and a sense of profound loss for the newly departed; and it is surmised that the ash that was rubbed into the self-inflicted wounds came from the actual funeral pyres that were used to cremate the bodies. In essence, people were literally carrying with them a reminder of the recently deceased in the form of tattoos created by ash being rubbed into shallow wounds cut or slashed into the body, usually the forearms. This rite would have been part of a culturally accepted process of grieving. (via Tattoo Culture Online)

Not only was this the practice but we also see that cutting was a practice by the prophets of Baal while Elijah mocked them on Mount Carmel. (1 Kings 18).

It seems as though the practice had to do with actual worship to another god or gods. Even in the verse that is brought up in Leviticus 19:28, the verse is pointing to some sort of ancient practice of cutting for the worship or honor of the dead, not in the mere deed of cutting or tattooing oneself.

But, even with all this thought, it still says not to do it. But now we come to context of the verse. This chapter, and even the book of Leviticus is set up in many ways as a complete shadow of Christ, in the laws and regulations for the nation of Israel. Therefore, we must look at these laws and separate them from civil laws and moral laws. The question really is, "Which laws are binding only on the nation of Israel, and which ones are still binding on us today?" The reason this is the question at hand is because there are many laws put into effect in Leviticus that we break all the time. Look at some of these:

1. You can't eat shrimp or other unclean animals (Leviticus 11)

2. You can't wear polyester or other garments with two kinds of material mixed together (Leviticus 19:19)

3. You can't shave the corners of your head's hair or shave your beard (Leviticus 19:27)

These are just three proofs that something else is at play here. We would though also say that there are some things in Leviticus that we should follow, such as not making our children prostitutes and not going to mediums and spiritists.

So what is the difference? The difference comes in the practice themselves. Are they for the nation of Israel or for all people for all time? Meaning, is there a moral grounding in the law that is to continually be forbidden?

The answer for Tattoos is "yes and no." But, I believe that the answer to most laws in the Old Testament and our actions in our lives are a "yes and no." Think of this. Are there ways to make money for the glory of God or the glory of self? Are there ways to have sex for the glory of God or for the glory of self? Are there ways to eat or drink to the glory of God or for the glory of self? And when I say, "glory of self" that is the essence of worshiping a false god, which is ourselves. We find this very clearly in Romans 14:23 when it states,

...and whatever is not from faith is sin.

If one gets a tattoo to worship another god, then that is sin. If someone eats meat to worship another god, that is sin. But, if someone gets a tattoo or eats for the glory of God, then that is fine in the eyes of God and he actually loves it, because it is done to show worship to our God.

The verse has even more thought put towards it when we find that Jesus Christ himself has some sort of marking on him when he returns to put a beat down on all pagans and their gods.

Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. "

Revelation 19:15-16

If tattooing is considered evil, I hope that same person doesn't wear polyester and has a pretty rad beard down to their knees with some ratty hair. This is the crux of the matter in dealing with Leviticus 19, but I will also put up another post on how I can bring glory to God in getting a tattoo and defend tattoos against other arguments in the New Testament. Such as, "Isn't your body a temple?", "Aren't you being worldly by getting tattoos?" and "Aren't you making those who are against tattoos stumble?"

The body of Christ needs to do all things for the glory of God. Tattooing is no different and neither is picking out a shirt to wear for the day or whether or not to eat a hot dog at Costco.

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Prodigal Son: Part II

Because my notes were so extensive for this second part of the chapel service...I am going to break it up into two posts. Again, this is pretty close to what I actually said during the sermon, but some things I have left out in these posts because it would have little affect on the readers, compared to when I was speaking to the students at Rainier Christian. The first post is here for you to read.

The Son’s Misplaced Trust

We left off on the last post when the son started to form his repentance speech he was going to give his father. Here is what he came up with:

“Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”

What’s wrong with this statement?

The first part is correct…he has sinned against heaven, he has sinned against the father and he is no longer worthy to be called his father’s son. But then look at the last part. He wants to pay back his father by being a hired man.

The son is missing the point of being forgiven and accepted by his father and is actually downplaying his sin at this point. He thinks he could actually pay him back.

Remember. He has wished his father dead. He not only took his father’s property, but remember what word was used for his father’s property that he took? Bios, or life.

He also made his father, who was very wealthy and well known in the area, lose respect and honor, which was huge in the time of Christ.

So, by saying, “I’ll just be a hired servant and pay my dad back” he was really downplaying what he did to his father.

Let me give you an example.

What if Bill Gates showed up to your house and said to you:

I am going to buy you and your family a mansion, any car each of you want, and when you get out of high school I will pay for whatever school you want to go to and make sure you get the best available job in your field of study.

Pretty cool, yes?

You think about it and you say, “yes, that would be cool…” and then you handed him a dollar. He asks, “what is this for?”

You respond by saying, “I just wanted to pay you back for doing all this for me”

Have you now cheapened the gift given? Very much so. And you sound ridiculous.

This is exactly what the son will be doing if he asks his father to become his hired servant. He is going to not only sound ridiculous, but he will cheapen the grace and mercy that is supplied to him by his father.

We will come back to this understanding as we seek to find how the father and the elder brother responded.

The Forgiving Father

“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Honestly, this part of Scripture is more shocking than we realize. The Son gets up and makes his journey towards his father. The whole way, rehearsing what he’ll say, how his father might respond and what will happen if he is rejected..knowing he will probably be rejected.

Think of this…how nervous would you be making this journey back to your father?

What reaction do you think he was expecting?

So, as he is making his journey he comes over the horizon where the Father sees him and what happens?

The father had been wished dead, socially embarrassed, physically stolen from and spiritually his life was torn apart.

Also, in this period the inferior always ran or came to the superior…this wealthy nobleman would never go to anyone in this village, much less a person who wanted him dead to take his money.

Yet, it says that while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, ran and embraced and kissed him.

Notice…has the son said anything yet?

Just seeing His son, it says the father felt compassion for him. This term means to literally be moved from the deepest part of the soul.

This is where we start to see the gospel very clearly. Remember…who is telling us this parable?

It is Jesus…Jesus uses this term compassion when speaking of the Prodigal. Who is the Prodigal in this story so far? Us…and the crowd listening, more specifically the sinners.

It is said that the term compassion is used more for Christ than any other emotion. Jesus is trying to show the connection between himself and the Father at this point. He is trying to say that he loves these people and he desires their salvation. He desires the salvation of the most crude people of the day, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the cheats, the sick, the lame, the pedophiles, the wife beaters, the whores, the drug dealers and the zealots.

The father not only feels compassion but he runs to the boy. Now, in the days of Christ, noblemen didn’t run. The reason is because all they wore was this kind of robe, with an undergarment that was long and went all the way down close to the ankles…so to run, they had to pick up the garment pretty high and would be in danger of showing off parts of themselves that shouldn’t be shown.

But this father, so overcome with joy, doesn’t care that he is a nobleman, doesn’t care about the disgrace of running, doesn't care about what the village would think of him…his only care is to seek out his boy whom he sees.

Notice that as he approaches his son, he embraces him and kisses him.

Think of this. Does the father know whether or not the son will accept him or reject him? I mean…couldn’t the son be there to merely ask for more money?

The father shows that he has fully forgiven the son before the son ever even asks for it.

Think of Christ at this moment as he is speaking this. You see like the father, Christ came from his home to us. He ran to us, he joyfully came to live among us…but unlike the father he wasn’t welcomed, he was rejected, he was crucified on the cross.

You see we know the story, so we forget that the father does all this without knowing whether or not the son will accept him. But, Jesus, does all these things for us, knowing he will be rejected and despised and it still states this:

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

The son, not knowing how he would be welcomed, must be overcome at this point. But notice he still follows through with most of what he is ready to state:

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

He gets most of it out, but what happens? Does he even get to the point about paying back his father? Because of the repentance of the Son, what now happens?

From before we see that the Father has forgiven him, but now we see the son receives three things:

“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;

The robe is given to those who are a welcomed and honored guest. This robe will cover the filth of the son who was living with pigs.

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
Isaiah 61:10

Like the Father, Christ has clothed us with righteousness, so that our filth is seen no more.

He is also given a ring, which for the family, gave the son authority and allowed the son to make business transactions on behalf of the family. He has been given back an inheritance that he squandered.

By doing this, it will cost his father much. But if he doesn’t, there will be no redemption for the son and he will never truly be called a son to the family. It costs his dad to do this because part of his bios, his life, was taken when the son left with his inheritance. So, the father’s life is being taken for the son to be redeemed.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Christ, like the father, gave up his literal life, to save and redeem us.

Not only did he receive a robe and the family ring, but he received sandals. Servants didn’t wear sandals, only those a part of family did. This shows the full acceptance that the son is fully restored. He is truly a son. Not a servant.

So, think of this. We have the fullness of the gospel. A sinner completely separated from his father, sins willfully, squanders everything, lives how he wants to, but desires to be restored. He goes to the father and the father, instead of holding anything against him, runs to him, hears his repentance and fully restores the son as part of the family. Notice that the son has done nothing besides repent.

Because of the sacrifice that the father has made, the son can be restored.

Remember the speech that the son had prepared for his father? Was he able to even finish it?

No, and notice that the part that was left out because of the father’s joy to fully restore his son, was the part where the son wanted to repay his debt. By not allowing this to happen, the father is saying, there is nothing to repay, because I have paid it for you.

Such a clear example of our Christ. The gospel speaks to us and doesn’t ask, “what have you done for Christ,” the gospel cries out and says, “Look at what Christ has done for you!”

Martin Lloyd Jones, a famous pastor who has now gone off to be with God used to ask, “Right now, are you a son of God?” He said many people would respond by saying, “I’m trying”

He then told them, “You don’t know what it means to be a son, because you want to be a hired servant”

As if this wasn’t enough, the father continues and says:

and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

So, not only has the son been fully restored as a son, the father doesn’t stop…he throws a full out bash for the whole town. Imagine the great joy that is happening in the father’s house. This is probably the best day in the Father’s life.

For all he knew, he would never see his son again. His son could have been merely coming back for money and leaving again. But no, his son has repented and come back home. He wasn’t physically dead, but was completely separated from his father and his home, he was spiritually dead, but he has returned.

When you were dead in your transgressions…He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
Colossians 2:13

To show how joyous he is, he kills the fatted calf. Now to understand how crazy this is, know that they hardly ever ate meat back then and probably had never had such a celebration. The whole town would be invited to share in this amazing celebration of joy. This would be like your parents renting out the most expensive restaurant in Seattle and inviting all your neighbors and friends to join you…it was a huge bash.

This is why Christ says that there is much joy in heaven over even one sinner that repents.

In the next post, we'll see what happens after it is seemingly a story that will end with a huge celebration and much joy over the restoration of not only a son, but the fabric of the whole family. Just as all seems joyous and back to "normal", enter the vengeful, elder brother.

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Cussing for Christ: Finding Meaning in Words: Part II

My last post focused on the thoughts of our words and which ones we have on our lists of "good" and "bad" words and how Christ saw these. We found that Christ focused much more attention on the context, culture and intent, than merely the word itself. Again, when one looks at words how Christ saw words, it will cause you to be more conscience of what you say and how you say it, not less concerned. Every time I bring up that words matter far less than culture, context and intent I get the same list of verses for a defense of why certain words should never be used. This usually happens because the person has an answer for my thinking while not listening to what I spoke about concerning Christ and his stance on words. Instead of ignoring them, as they ignored my reasoning, I oblige and challenge them on their exegesis by using all of Scripture, instead of pulling out certain texts from their context to employ them for my personal yoke.

Most notably, the verses that are used most often are the following:

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5:3-4

Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:6-8

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
Colossians 3:8

Now, when someone reads these verses, most of the time a list of words start popping up in your mind that should never be used. That is fine, but that isn't getting to the root of the issue that is being spoken of here. If you look at these verses some things pop out right away when speaking of words:

Filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting, sound in speech, unwholesome word and abusive speech.

Most of the time, this is what is focused on when someone tries to combat my thoughts on language. While these are things that definitely should not be overlooked, I keep digging deeper with the person. There has to be more in these verses than merely us making up a list of good and bad words to use in our everyday lives. The reason I say this is that if we follow the shallow exegesis often employed with these verses we actually start putting God, his prophets and his apostles to the test.

Here are some examples that I think would make some of us cringe if we heard a pastor or friend use. These examples would all be considered coarse and filthy to even the world...I will warn you...some of these are very hard to read:

Your works are like a dirty, bloody tampon (Isaiah 64:6)

You were a whore when you were young, having your breasts fondled and your virgin breasts and nipples handled (Ezekiel 23:3)

You would rather be an adulterer because you love men that have a huge penises like donkeys and come like horses (Ezekiel 23:20)

To make God angry you were such a whore that when the Egyptians came by lusting after you, you spread your legs for them (Ezekiel 16:25,26)

God loved you so much that when you were born and thrown out in the open to squirm in your blood and die, He saved you and called out for you to live (Ezekiel 16: 4-6)

I count all things as crap, or animal excretion, or literal sh#t, so that I may gain Christ (Phil 3:8)

In 1 Kings 18 while Elijah is on Mount Carmel, Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal and asks if their god is on the toilet (1 Kings 18:27) and so busy that he can't answer them. Which is interesting because Baal has a derivation (Beelzebub) where it means "Lord of Dung".

We could actually continue for a while on this, but I think you get my point. To just open your eyes to the way that God uses language to get to the heart of the matter, read Ezekiel 16 and 23 fully. The imagery is shocking, which is its intent, so that the hearers would see their sin and turn back to God.

When I read these, and other parts of Scripture, I then go back to the above mentioned verses on language and ask myself, "What is God trying to convey in these verses so that His glory is displayed to all people?" Further, to try and think this through, Ephesians 5 starts with an interesting verse: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

So, when thinking through the verses on language, we should see language as God sees language, not merely our culture. So, when someone like Phil Johnson asks, "If newscasters don't use coarse language to get the news across, why should we?" He is missing the point of language and being imitators of God and not man.

If we are shallow in our understanding of the verses mentioned in Ephesians, Titus and Colossians we would, once again, find God in sin. There has to be more.

Just as food, sex, money and alcohol can be used for God's glory, they can also be used for indulgence in sin if not used correctly. This is a heart matter. Words must be used how God desires, and not how we desire. Words must used exactly how Paul puts it: only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment.

The moment is going to tell us what we should use and how we should use it. If we are speaking to a moralistic Pharisee who cannot see past their idolatry of good works, we might have to use some pretty crass words to pierce the heart as Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus and Paul did. If we are speaking to someone caught up in sin, that has aborted a child and is struggling through the decision spiritually, we will use different words to show the forgiveness and grace of God. The moment is key! This is exactly how we see it through all of Scripture. Edification doesn't merely mean some sort of soft spoken Christian radio host telling you that everything will be okay and that God loves you. Sometimes people need to be awakened by a shout, where a whisper will just keep them in their slumber.

This elevates your language, it doesn't degrade it. It makes you really think which words will pierce the heart for the gospel and which ones will just fly by unnoticed.

You must know your audience, you must know the context, you must know the culture and you must speak Jesus straight to their hearts, where the Holy Spirit can thrust his knife of knowledge and split open their heart to see the King of Kings on His throne.

Do I believe that a Christian should carelessly use any word, in any context. No. That isn't the point of these posts. The point of these posts is that the words themselves are far less important than the intent and context which one finds themselves in.

The gospel, in the Scriptures, have been proclaimed in many different ways to many different contexts, cultures and peoples. Notice this and take the whole Bible as our guidance to God's glory, not just what makes you comfortable and not just what will make people like you. If you have a list of words you'll never use, you might want to check first with the Scriptures to make sure you aren't limiting the words that God wants you to use. I couldn't imagine if Ezekiel told God, "Sorry God, whore is not a word I am comfortable with, can we go with another one?"

I pray these posts will make us think more how to be biblical, edifying and God glorifying. I pray that we would desperately try and balance out the legalistic and antinomian in all of us and pray that God would continually make us more like him and less like our self made idols that we want ourselves to be like.

The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
Exodus 4:11-12

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Prodigal Son: Part I

I spoke yesterday at a local private high school about the Prodigal Son. I was heavily influenced by The Prodigal God sermons by Keller. I didn't read the book that followed but I can tell you that if it was anything like the sermon series, it will really open your eyes to idolatry, community and gospel vs religion. This is a loose transcript of what I preached for the first week. I will preach again next week at their chapel and will put that up when I have it available. I am not sure if they record their chapels, I don't think they do, but if they do I will make the audio available as well. I am leaving out my opening comments and intro for the sake of space. I am already going to have a long post with this and know that most of you won't read the whole thing. It was truly a priviledge to share this with the group of students and teachers and I am excited to finish up next week.

One of the things I did try to accomplish in my opening was this fact that I stated:

My goal is not to make you a better student, it’s not to make you a better son or daughter, it isn’t to make you a better brother or sister, it isn’t to make you a better Christian, it isn't to make you a better person and it is not to make you a Christian if you are not yet. My goal is to show you the glory of God through the grace and forgiveness found in the cross of Christ.

First, read the parable: Luke 15:11-35

Background

What is interesting is the impact of this short story that is told to us by Jesus. Even those who rarely or have never read a Bible have heard of the story and many have adapted it to be used in culture.

For instance:

Shakespeare borrowed the story and adapted it into the making of the Merchant of Venice and Henry IV

Famous ballets and operas have used it and adapted it for their culture’s enjoyment

The world’s greatest art museum’s have many renditions of the story, the most noted being Rembrandt

And bands such as U2 have even written songs about it.

We hear words and imagery borrowed from the story such as calling a child that has been defiant, a prodigal son or daughter, sometimes people speak of “killing the fatted calf”, “feeding on husks” or “riotous living”.

So, although this story is quite old, it is another instance when we can see that our God transcends and his word is timeless.

Now, what you will notice as we look to this parable, this comes in a string of parables that actually started back in verse 1 of this chapter.

The crowd listening to Jesus is very interesting…it is composed of both the righteous people of their day, which were the Pharisees and scribes who loved to make up rules believing one must follow them as a means of God's grace and also the sinners of their day, which were made up of tax collectors and prostitutes. Today modern Pharisees would be anyone who has extra biblical lists and rules one has to follow in order to be mature and saved in Christ. They usually look down at others and love to make others follow their rules in order to be accepted. These rules could be anything from what one must wear to church to how long one must study their bible each day.

The sinners would be made up of such people as drug dealers, prostitutes, homosexuals, murderers and felons. This is the group gathered around Jesus. So just imagine the Pharisees staring at the ugly sinners in disbelief that Christ would ever engage them. Imagine what you would think or say if you saw your pastor hanging out with prostitutes, drug dealers, drunks, homosexuals and known murderers. Imagine what you would think if a friend brought to church a prostitute or a known drug dealer…what would your first response be? This might give you some insight into which category you would have been in if you were to gather near Jesus the day he told this parable. We’ll get into that later.

So, this parable is the last of the three parables concerning things which were lost and the great joy when they are found. The first is about a lost sheep, which is too dumb to know that it is lost or how to get back to it’s shepherd (which we are called in other parts of the gospels…pretty uplifting in it’s own sense), the second is about a lost coin being sought out by it’s owner, notice the coin has no faculties that would cause it to know it was lost or any capabilities to return to it’s owner. The last is where we will focus. The lost Son. Not only does the Son have the capabilities to know he is lost, he is the one that decided to leave and be seen as dead to his family. In each one of these parables, the theme is clear. God redeems or finds that which is lost for His glory and with great joy.

The Prodigal Son

And He said, “A man had two sons.
“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.
Luke 15:11-12

This, to us, might not seem that bad to us at first. The young man was simply asking for his estate, what is the big deal? Before we get into the details, let me read you a news story that happened a couple of months ago in South Carolina:

The son of a 68-year-old Eastway Park man beat his napping father to death with a hammer on Friday, then stole $4,000 from a safe at his father’s house to go on a cocaine-fueled party spree, according to officials and warrants. “He partied all weekend long with the blood money from his father,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Tuesday. “He murdered his father for a couple of rocks of crack.” The son, Robert Dickerson, has been charged with the murder and armed robbery of his father, Charles Dickerson, as his father slept in his bed Friday afternoon, Lott said. The body lay in bed in a pool of blood for two days until another son came by Sunday morning. Robert Dickerson has made a signed confession, Lott said. The charges against Dickerson — murder and armed robbery — potentially make him eligible for the death penalty. Lott said this is one of the worst cases he has seen because it involves a son brutally killing his father with premeditation. The sheriff said Robert Dickerson brought the hammer to his father’s house, then washed it off after the killing and took it and the cash with him when he left to go on his binge. From the first, investigators believed someone close to Dickerson killed him, in part because there were no signs of forced entry, Lott said. Charles Dickerson had lived in his neat, single-story house off Bluff Road for more than 40 years, neighbors said Lott sketched this scenario: On Friday, Robert Dickerson came by his father’s house, and his father gave him $20 to get them some beer. “Instead, Robert went and bought some crack cocaine,” Lott said. “He smoked it and decided he wanted some more crack.” Returning to his father’s house with a hammer, Robert beat his father “in the head numerous times,” then washed his hands and stole cash out of a safe at the bottom of his dad’s bedroom closet, Lott said. Crack dealers in the Bluff Road area near Eastway Park “just swarmed around” the son when he returned with his father’s cash, Lott said. The son at first lied to investigators about whether he had killed his father, but confessed after two days of questioning, Lott said. Officials have no other suspects. Robert Dickerson said he had some anger issues about his father dating back to childhood, but Lott declined to elaborate.

Now, you might ask, “What does this story have to do with the Prodigal Son?”

The problem with reading the biblical text is that there is a lot of cultural aspects to it that we don’t understand. Although, in the context that Jesus is speaking, they all understood and why, in the end, the Pharisees (and the elder brother) get so upset about it.

We see in the news headline from South Carolina that the son kills his father for money so that he can go squander it and live out his sinful lifestyle.

In the context in which Christ is speaking this is exactly what the younger son was doing. He was telling his father…I want you dead and all I want from you is my money that you owe me for my inheritance.

And you also have to realize that this isn’t like today when most of our money is easily accessible. The wealth of the family was tied up in land and in cattle. So much so that to describe the wealth of the Lord Psalm 50 tells us:

“For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
“I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
Psalm 50:10-11

The most disgusting thing about this is that since the younger son knows how rich his dad is, and that it isn’t easily accessible, he uses a term that is different than the normal inheritance. The term he uses is a term that is normally used for “life” it is actually the term “bios” where we get the term biology, which means the study of life. As we look at the father, we’ll see what this impact meant as he had to give his life for his son to have a chance to return to him and live.

By doing this, he is wishing his father dead and himself to be out of the family. He wants to be considered dead to the family. He desires it so much that he gives up all securities within, not only the family, but the village and the people of Israel so that he could simply leave and live how he desires.

So, even me telling you that it is like you telling your parents that you want your inheritance, it doesn’t match up completely…it is more like the murder of the parent in the news story.

Conversely, the prodigal Son would have been considered dead to the family. In Middle Eastern thought in the time of Christ, it was the duty of the Father to strike the boy across the face, and then mentally and physically abuse the child throughout the town until he departed the city gates. Afterwards, they would then have a funeral for the child who decided he was better off on his own, than with his family.

So, we see that the Prodigal Son, wishes his father dead, takes what is his and leaves to live out the life he believes is good to him. He is showing that he does not care for his father, but he cares for his father’s things. He is showing that he is truly an idolater. His idolatry runs so deep that he must get what he wants so that he can be free to do what he wants. This is what we call relativism. The son decides he wants to do what he finds desirous to him, instead of living under the rule and governance of his father. We do the same if we live for our desires, instead of God's desires.

(verse 13) “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

At this point in the story, I am sure you are thinking, “this kid is an idiot.” I know this is a bit childish, but he sounds a bit like Pinocchio when he decides to leave Gepetto and go and party at Pleasure Island, where he starts to gamble, smoke, getting drunk and destroying Pleasure Island.

The Prodigal literally throws his money away on what he feels is his pleasure. What he enjoys instead of what his father has pointed to him as good.

We see this actually happening in an earlier story that is told to us. This happens with Adam and Eve. They have been given the joy of the Garden of Eden where all there cares are taken care of, where the joy of God is in their midst, but instead of enjoying God, they want to make themselves an idol and rise above God, so they eat of the fruit. Adam and Eve, like the Prodigal Son, believe that their pleasures, are going to bring them more joy, happiness and comfort than God can. What they find is death. What they find is separation from God. What they find is misery compared to the Garden.

What is interesting about the commands of God is that they aren’t set up to make you miserable, they are set up so that you can obtain the greatest joy in your life.

I was telling this to my 6 year old. I was making sure he understood why we have rules in the house. To make my point made known I simply asked him, “Do you know why daddy has rules?” He of course was clueless. I said, “I tell you not to play in the road, not because I hate you, but because I love you and I don’t want you to get hit by a car.” I said, “all the rules your mother and I place in this house are just as that one is….they are made so that you can live with the greatest joy in your life and you can give the greatest joy to others.

This is what God does for us. He tells you not to be drunk with alcohol for a reason, he tells you not to have sex before marriage for a reason, he tells you not to lie for a reason…it isn’t because he hates you, it is because he loves you.

Getting drunk is cool, until you wake up with a hangover. Then you realize how much of a moron you were.

So, when you look at the Prodigal living how he believes he desires, instead of how his father desires, ask yourself, “In which ways do I live my life where I am most glorified, instead of God being most glorified?”

“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’

Here is where we see the Prodigal Son’s repentance. The verse starts with the boy coming to his senses. Why? Why does the boy come to his senses? We don’t know what finally triggered it, but we do see that it came through pain. He states that he is dying of hunger.

I know that some of you have used this term with your parents, telling them, “Mom, I am starving…hook me up with some food.” But, here the Prodigal is literally dying of hunger. He finally sees that the happiness that came with living on his own terms came with great pain of being separated from his Father’s joy. Here that joy is shown through being hungry. The boy finally realizes how hungry he truly is and how much he wants to be with his father again.

Many times you will come to your senses through pain in this life. You will be living in your sin, whether it is lying, stealing, cheating, etc. For whatever reason, you will one day, come to your senses. Most of the time with us, it is because of the punishment we are starting to incur, which then will show us if are truly repentant or not.

Here is how you know if you are truly repentant, or if you are merely tired of being in pain. Because there is a difference. There is a difference in hating your sin, hating the fact that you lie, or hating that you keep getting caught in your sin and getting detention or grounding from your parents and school.

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10

You see there are two types of repentance. One will lead you to salvation, and the other will lead you to death.

One is a repentance that is sorrowful of the sin and impact it has on God and the other is a repentance because you keep getting caught or simply want to stop the pain of your sin.

Stephen Charnock, the great puritan says this: a legalistic conviction of sin arises out of God’s justice but a gospel conviction of sin arises out of a sense of God’s goodness

Meaning this: one repentance comes about because one is scared of the wrath of God and what he will bring to them because they sinned. A gospel centered conviction says that they have sinned against a compassionate and good God who has the attitudes and relationship as a friend and loving parent.

One repents because they are merely scared of consequences, another repents because they broke the heart of their God who died for them.

Notice this comes about in the Prodigal Son. He is coming to his senses and notice what he is going to say to his father:

“Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men

Tim Keller says, "notice that it is first vertical and then horizontal." He first says that he sinned against heaven. This is quite odd, don’t you think? It’s like you hitting your brother in the face and first saying sorry to God while your brother is sitting there crying because you just hit him in the face. But it is correct repentance.

When you sin, you must first understand that you broke the heart of God and he is supreme and should be the most important one in your life. With the Prodigal Son, our first response usually has been, why is he not first saying sorry to the family he ripped apart? It was they who he wished were dead, whom he robbed and disgraced. But, if he only repented to them, he would be showing he truly didn’t understand repentance.

King David does the same thing after he has sex with another man’s wife and then sends him out to the front lines of war to be killed. Instead of saying sorry to the man’s family and to the wife that he stole, he says this to God:

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
Psalm 51:4

Godly repentance that leads to life, happens when one realizes the depth of his sin and hates it because it breaks God’s heart, not merely because you are tired of being caught.

I have a 6 and 3 year old. My 6 year old a couple of years ago told his mom that he hated her.

He said this because he didn’t like the fact that he was getting disciplined for his sin. When we were speaking to him we were trying to convey the depth of the sin to his mom’s heart. As a child, he said sorry because he didn’t want a spanking, but was not understanding that he truly hurt his mother’s feelings.

Because of this, he has said many other things that hurt our feelings when he thought we weren’t listening. Why did he now do it while he thought we weren’t listening? Because he didn’t care that he hurt us deeply, he just didn’t want to get in trouble for what he was saying.

What does your repentance look like? Is it more like my 6 year olds? Or is it like the Prodigal Son’s?

Why should you care?

We’ll actually see next week that the Prodigal’s first response in his repentance is self atonement and we’ll compare that to religion vs gospel…but this week I want to end with simply, “why should you care?” You are between the ages of 13 and 18…why should you care how you repent? Why shouldn’t you merely avoid trouble and pain at this point in your life?

The simple reason is eternal and it will impact your joy. Your joy will be most full when your life is hid with Christ. When your identity isn’t found in your grades, in your family, in your sports, in your art, in your status, or in your friends, but in Christ you are free to lose all those things, and still be joyful because your identity is in Christ and not in those things.

This doesn’t mean if you hate Jesus, your life will be living in a pig pen like the Prodigal Son’s, but what it does mean is that your life and your identity is like pig slop compared to the joy and identity found in Christ.

Tim Keller once said, “Answer this question, “If I lose X, then I will be miserable. If X isn’t Christ, you have an idol” The Prodigal Son’s Idol was his father’s money.

What is it for you?

The great thing about this story is that Christ is the greater Prodigal. He is the perfect fulfillment of the Prodigal Son’s misery and failures.

The term Prodigal means a reckless extravagant consumer. This, in some light, is what Christ was for you. He recklessly gave up his extravagant life and bought you with a price.

The reason you should desire to repent is because of the hurt you cause your Father in Heaven and what the Son was for you.

You are just like the Prodigal, if you live for self and not for God…if you live for grades, sports, art, family or friends. But, Christ became the perfect Prodigal for us, so we could live for him instead.

Just like the Prodigal, Jesus left the comforts of heaven to become one of us. Unlike the Prodigal this was the will of His Father and not against his Father’s will.

Just like the Prodigal he was friends to sinners and prostitutes, unlike the Prodigal Jesus did not join in their sin.

Unlike the Prodigal, Jesus didn’t come to his senses, he always had them and he made the decision to come down to us and rescue us from the pig slop.

Here is the crux in the story though. Jesus, died and he took upon our sin, so that the Prodigal could come to his senses and live. Jesus gave his righteousness to the dirty prodigal who sinned abundantly and Jesus died as though the Prodigal’s sins were his own.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

1 Peter 3:18


When the Prodigal calls out to his father and returns to him, the Father clothes him and welcomes him. But, our Christ was stripped of his clothes and put up on the cross and when he called out to his Father, he was forsaken.

You see today isn’t about guilting you into repentance. It isn’t about you being a better person.

It is about you realizing that you are the idolatrous Prodigal Son who has traded the goodness and comforts of the father to follow your own ways. But, today, you can turn to Christ and start a life of repentance because you do not merely want to avoid pains and trouble, but because you don’t want to break the heart of the one who traded his righteousness for your sin, he died, so that you may live.

You start a life of repentance that understands that you have first sinned against heaven and your God that made you and loves you.

If you have already realized this, praise God, continue to dig deeper into the depths of the gospel and live a life of repentance. Next week, we will put those of us who are professed Christians into the spotlight, making sure that we do not become the elder brother.

For this week ask yourself:

If I lost X, I would be crushed…what is X for you?

Why do I repent and ask for forgiveness?

Is God good enough? Or do I want God’s things more than I want God?

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What Is My Responsibility For Communion?

So, in the last post we went through a little on what communion is. Trying to show that it is more than merely symbolic, but not actually eating the flesh of Christ. There is, like most theologies, a balance. What I would like to focus on in this post is what we, as Christ's bride, should be focusing on as we come to the table.

Please offer up any suggestions or questions you might have in regards to the thoughts on this series.

When we come to communion, we come to celebrate a great and glorious Saviour. We come to remember all who Christ was, we come to remember how Christ died, how brutal He was slain, why He was slain and we are to proclaim that slain Lamb, who came to save sinners. We do not come to the table to remember what we have done, what we have accomplished, why we should be saved, but we come to remember what He has done, what He has accomplished and How Christ saved us through His blood.

This is the wondrous exchange made by his boundless goodness. Having become with us the Son of Man, he has made us with himself sons of God. By his own descent to the earth he has prepared our ascent to heaven. Having received our mortality, he has bestowed on us his immortality. Having undertaken our weakness, he has made us strong in his strength. Having submitted to our poverty, he has transferred to us his riches. Having taken upon himself the burden of unrighteousness with which we were oppressed, he has clothed us with his righteousness.
John Calvin

The calling to remembrance happens in both 1 Corinthians 11:23-29 and also in Luke 22:19 and it is quite the term to use as our Saviour calls us to understand where our eyes should be...not on self, but on Him.

Why Are We to Remember?

The first question when we come to the Lord’s Supper should be on understanding what Christ meant when He said, “Do this in remembrance.”

Remembrance meant to the Jews: to recall information or events, with a focus on responding in an appropriate manner ; mention, remind, cause to remember (proclaim, tell, i.e., assert truths about one, as one speaks publicly, implying that this information has been known before

So to the Jews, the word remembrance actually was very close to the word proclaim. To remember meant to proclaim, that is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that when you share in the Lord’s Supper you are proclaiming the Lord’s death.

We must understand that we are Christ’s remembrance, we are the ones who carry the remembrance of what Christ did through the nations, and it isn’t just what we say but is who we are. The Puritan’s used to preach and say that if there be any doubt in their message to look at their lives as living proof of the saving power of Christ. Can we say the same? Can we say that we truly are Christ’s remembrance?

Look to Joshua 4:1-7

We can see here that these stones were set up as a memorial, they were set up so when others asked, what are these here for, why are these stones gathered? People would answer and reconfirm, to bring remembrance what the Lord had done.

The parallel in the New Testament comes in 1 Peter 2:4-10

We are the very living stones for Christ. We are just as those stones who were set up for remembrance for the Israelites. Yet, because of Christ, we are no longer dead stones, but living stones. We are here so that when people ask, what are these stones, these people, here for, what do they represent, why are these stones gathered together? People, and we, will say they are here as a living remembrance of the Living Christ who came and died for His people. We are the stones that proclaim what Christ did just as the stones were set up for the remembrance for what the Lord did at the Jordan.

The question is when we come together for the Lord’s Supper is, is Christ glorified in us? Are we remembering the way that we are told, are we proclaiming his death? When people see us do they see living stones that tell the story of Christ. That show the transforming power of Christ so that we too can be described as Paul described in 2 Corinthians as a sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him.

Paul warns that we must examine ourselves, we must test ourselves because we are who people look to, to see Christ. Just as Hebrews 1 says that Christ is the radiance of God’s glory so shall we be for Christ, we need to be as the moon is to the sun; a reflection of the majesty, splendor and holiness of the risen Christ.

If we do not pass this examination, if we do not pass this test, and we still drink of the cup and eat of the bread, we are judged because we are falsely proclaiming who and what Christ is.

Look to 1 Corinthians 11:28,29

When we come to take of the Supper we are here to worship our God through remembrance. We are not here to just do a ceremony, we are not here because we have to be here, we are not here to make an appearance amongst the brethren, we are here to remember what the Lord did for us. Our complete focus is to be on Christ, and not on ourselves. That is why we are told that if we take in an unworthy manner we drink judgment on ourselves.

Why are we to examine? We are to examine so that we may bring our sins to the cross, so that we will remember how lowly of sinners we are, so that we will cry out like the tax collector did in Luke 18 when he said, "Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner." When we examine ourselves and realize who we are and the remembrance of the righteousness imputed to us by our Saviour, how can we have any anger or malice towards another? For we are in deep debt to our God just like they.

Do you have anything against your brother? Then your focus isn’t on Christ but on yourself. Do you have sin that is uncared for and not despised in your life? Then your focus isn’t on Christ but on yourself. Do you come to the table wanting something besides worshiping and remembering Christ Jesus our Lord? Then you go for the wrong reason, because the Lord's table is only about Christ, it is only about remembering what He has done and who He is, and not about us.

We should come focused as Paul focused and said for to me, to live is Christ and John the Baptist said that He, Christ, should increase, but I must decrease.

We, the living stones of Christ come only to proclaim the risen Christ through the remembrance of Him. We are Christ’s living stones of remembrance.

Remembering the Body

First, Christ says, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” The first thing we must remember is who Christ was. we are to remember Christ’s body through the breaking of bread, Christ like David was born in Bethlehem which means “house of bread.” Bread was the staple in Jewish life to bring nutrients to the body, it sustained the body and made the body strong and gave the body energy. We are told to break bread to remember Christ’s body, the one who is now our sustenance, the one is our power and strength the one who gave us the Spirit to empower us and make us his bold witnesses, we are told through this to remember his body.

“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:33-35

To the Jew, when someone’s body was mentioned it was more than just mere flesh, it meant the essence of who that person was, it described everything about that person. So when we see that Christ says this is my body and tells us to do this in remembrance, we are to remember His life, remember what He did on this earth, His ministry, His words, His teachings and yes remember His sinless life.

We must remember that He came and lived amongst us. He was the God/Man; 100% God and 100% Man. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.

1 Peter 2:21-22 says, For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you can example for you to follow in His steps,
WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;

1 Peter 3:18 says, For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the 1spirit;

1 Corinthians 5:21 says He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him

This meant by implication that to know something meant to participate in, so Paul is saying that Christ, whether inward or outward, had no knowledge of sin based on experience.

I know of a father losing a son but I don’t know how that is, or how that feels, Christ knew of sin, but had no personal experience of sin.

Why is this important for us to know and remember His perfect life? Hebrews 2 and 4 both tell us so that we can confidently come to our Saviour who was tempted in all things yet without sin, so that we can draw near to Him and find mercy in the time of need.

The other reason leads us into our last point. We must remember His perfect life because of the blood that He shed. He had to be a perfect sacrifice and Hebrews 7:26-28 tells us why.

The other priest’s offerings were done out of the blood of animals, but this sacrifice was done from our perfect Saviour who knew no sin. We are to remember the life of Christ who in Luke 2:52 was said to be increasing in His wisdom, showing His humanness. And in forgiving the sins of the prostitute in Luke 7 shows His Deity. This is the Christ we remember.

Remembering the blood

The last is to remember the blood, Christ says, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22

We are told that the blood had to be shed. His blood had to be shed to cover our sins, our filthiness before our Maker so that we should share in the glories of heaven instead of the depths of hell. To remember this we must look to John 19 to remember His perfect sacrifice.

John 19:1-6; 16-30

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him.

It is important to note that before this happened, the night before it was said that as Jesus was praying His sweat became blood. There is actual medical evidence of this, and when it happens that the skin in response becomes very fragile, so the flogging to come was going to have a higher impact than any other human had ever felt.

This scourging happened by taking and beating Christ using a whip of braided leather thongs, which encompassed metal balls and sharp bone and sometimes nails to tear the flesh off the person, it was so brutal that most didn’t live through this and many times the spine became visible. The usually beat them with 39 lashes because experience told them that 40 lashes would kill the man. And remember that Christ’s flesh was very thin and fragile at this time because of the night before.

It is recorded by Josephus that “certain rebel Jews were torn to pieces by the scourge before being crucified”

Read John 19:16-30

Note that Jesus' thirst is from another condition known as hypovolemic shock caused by extreme loss of blood and so because the heart is pumping large amounts of blood to try and recapture the loss of the blood the person becomes very thirsty as the body craves fluids to replace the volume of blood lost.

The crucifixion was so bad that as they drove the nails into His hands and His feet it is said to try explain this pain would be to take that same nerve that causes pain when you bump your funny bone, the ulna nerve, and take pliers and squeeze and crush that nerve, that would be similar to the pain at this point.

This pain that our Saviour, our Creator went through was one that He knew He would have to endure for our sake.

And Hebrews 12:2 tells us that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross!

This is what we are to remember and proclaim at the table. The precious blood that was spilled in our place, so that we would not be cast into the darkness but that we would be in His glorious light worshipping Him forever.

This blood, bringing into existence the New Covenant, bringing into existence hope for the gentile to be part of the church, the bride of Christ.

This is the kind of remembrance we are to have when we come to the table. May we take this seriously and may we understand Him more through the visible signs of Christ's death as we take part in communion.

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Hey Husbands...Grow Some

It is interesting when speaking to some about anger within the household and how it affects marriage. It is funny when someone jokingly asks, "So, after almost 10 years of marriage, how many times have you slept on the couch?" I quickly become as serious as an IFB preacher does when he hears rock music. I respond, "I never have, nor will I ever." This isn't because I am the man and believe it is my bed and my wife needs to deal with me. Not at all. I actually have a different outlook that some do when speaking of being angry with my spouse. But, I do believe it is the husband's job to resolve any conflict that is happening within the household.

The reason I tell husbands to "grow some" is because some men become so skittish around an angry wife they throw out all theological conviction for the cause of not having to confront an angry wife. This isn't godly in any way.

Scriptures tell us this:

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.
Ephesians 4:26-27

This is definitely not only speaking of marriage, but of a holy life in general. We can apply this verse in numerous ways, but in this post, I want to make a charge to the husbands.

Lead Your Wife

The one rule I started out with when Stacy and I were married is the rule that we wouldn't lay our head on our pillows angry at each other. Has this caused some crazy conflicts at 1am? Yep. Has this made our marriage better? Yes. Is there something more at stake here than a happy marriage? Of course.

I told my wife that I honestly wanted to work out conflict before we went to sleep, if there was any. I did not want to take our anger to the next day. Stacy didn't always enjoy this, but she knows that if we have conflict, it will be dealt with swiftly. But, husbands need to take charge in this to lead the wife in this area. It isn't that the wives aren't capable, but we are charged as husbands to lead our wives in this and show them the gospel in it. Ephesians 5 tells us that Christ is the head, both spiritually and physically, of the church and the husbands are to be such for their wives. Showing the wife the gospel by reconciliation each night is a great way to keep the cross and resurrection of Christ in front of the eyes for both partners.

Sometimes this takes great humility from the husband to apologize to the wife and tell her that you were wrong. Sometimes it takes you growing some and telling the wife that she was in sin how she reacted and responded in her time of anger. Our wives are not immune from Scripture when it tells us:

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

The wives are included in this context. Now, just as you wouldn't tease a UFC fighter for being overweight, you don't want to come at your wife in an attitude of pride. Come to her in humility, first apologizing if you responded or acted in any way that was unbecoming of a loving husband, but grow some and tell her if she was wrong. Believe me, sometimes this isn't fun, but I have noticed that for the most part, if I come to my wife in the right way, she responds in humility and loving repentance. She also knows it is coming before night's end as well, since we have the rule that we will never go to sleep angry.

Opportunity for Gospel Presence Not Satan's

Notice the second part of the verse here. It states,

and do not give the devil an opportunity

If you allow anger to ferment, the devil will win out and the gospel loses its opportunity. What this verse is really stating is that something will have an opportunity, it will either be the gospel or it will be the devil. If we deal with our anger with our spouse, we give opportunity for the gospel to show itself and clean our hearts. Think of this. If you deal with anger with your spouse, you and her have the chance to speak of repentance, forgiveness, the cross, the resurrection and the hope of heaven ruled by God where no sin and no (unrighteous) anger will exist. When you deal with sin together as a married couple you get a chance to see the gospel with your eyes, you and your spouse have the chance to see Christ face to face.

If you do not deal with your anger quickly, you instead give the devil opportunity. Every chance the devil gets, he will quickly rush in and squander gospel opportunity. He will give the one angered pride, he will give them questions on the love of the spouse, questions on motives of the spouse, questions on the spouse's commitment, etc. Remember he is prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour. Being angry with your spouse is like unlocking the gate and throwing your spouse in the lion's cage. Just as Paul states elsewhere that if either spouse deprives the other of sexual intimacy, it gives Satan an opportunity, so does anger.

I have heard it stated that the passage in 1 Corinthians 7 is showing that if you deprive your spouse, it allows Satan in your marriage bed. I do not know any husband that wouldn't freak out like a Jerry Springer guest if they saw another in their marriage bed, why would we allow Satan? Husbands must take this head on and not give the devil the opportunity to move in and stir up trouble.

The husband must grow some and take anger head on. I must say that if the husband ever allows his wife or himself to sleep on the couch because of anger he is no man and he is not leading his wife and he needs to grow some and start leading his wife instead of wearing a skirt and being a pansy. When we as husbands do not lead our wives in the area of anger we give the devil an opportunity to squash the gospel. When we as husbands decide that our pride is more important than our wives and ultimately the gospel, we might as well call ourselves "daughters of the devil" because we don't even deserve to be called "sons of the devil."

Husbands, grow some. Lovingly lead your wife so that both of you can continually see the gospel and Christ face to face.

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Is Drinking Alcohol a Sin?

I have been having a little discussion with James in my post on the 10 Steps to Become a Legalist. He is doing well with the 10th point of becoming a legalist. He is following it well and even trying to state his case on why he is allowed to be a legalist in this area. Instead of answering his questions in the combox, I decided to make a post answering his last questions. You can check that post to see our discussion, but I wanted to get these answers to these common objections to drinking alcohol in post form. Again, I want to stress that if you have a conviction to not drink yourself, more power to you, I respect your decision. My problem comes when someone calls it sin or then tries to put that yoke on others. Below is the Q and A that we have been discussing. Sounds like a lot of my readers will be reading it while drinking and smoking a good cigar. Hope they both go down well.

James: Ok, here we go Seth:

I start with this verse.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise
Proverbs 20:1

Seth: This verse is one that is not that difficult when you look at its intent. The reason is that the first part of the verse gives the conclusion to what happens in the first part. Wine can become a mocker and strong drink is raging if someone is "deceived" or better put in what the original Hebrew is getting across, the NASB states that these things happen, when you are "intoxicated" by it. Here is how the NASB reads: Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise. Which I agree with, don't get drunk with wine or strong drink because then you become mocked and beyond angry.

James: There was a day & time when it was commonplace for Christians of all denominations to abide by the Biblical conviction that no person should drink alcohol. In recent years, the radical grace movement, with it's extreme teachings concerning Christian liberty, has spread across America. With this self-centered view of Christianity many Christians have left behind their convictions concerning intoxicating drinks. The sale of Alcoholic beverages has risen by 40 percent, in the last 25 years, which is an epidemic problem that has made it's way into our churches.

Seth: This is almost a completely made up statement. History tells us that most Christians, for 2000 years, have always drank wine, beer, etc. It is only since the prohibition where people started to go against it, which they should have not taken drinks when it was illegal.

James: Leaders should avoid alcohol.
Proverbs 23:31 says,Look thou not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth it's color in the cup, When it moveth itself aright. (fermenting) It says NOT to.

Seth: I wonder if you read context. The reason that it says to stay away from it, is because of the previous verses of those who misuse alcohol. Who get drunk with it. He just got done talking about those who "linger" over it. And then afterwards talks about wine making people see strange things, uttering perverse things, etc. Meaning that the person is drunk, not merely drinking some wine. The term "do not look at it when it is red" is speaking of it being inticing to a drunk that can't wait to get his hands on the drink. This comes from the most respected Hebrew scholars in Keil and Delitzsch. It could be this or just the use of hyperbole, because the context is clearly speaking of a drunk. Think of when Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:13 that he would never eat meat again if it were to make his brother stumble.

James: There are many spiritual leaders who abstained from drink.
1. Nazarines (Nazarite vow) Numbers 6:1-4
2. John The Baptist (He followed the Nazarite vowel.) Luke 1:15

Seth: Are you going to also never cut your hair, pledge not to touch a dead animal or eat locusts and wear camel hair? Or can we be more knowledgeable and try and understand that the Nazarite vow is no longer a vow to be followed and John the Baptist was a special prophet among God's people? If not, can I be the first to buy a ticket to your circus in the desert while you wear camel hair, eat bugs and drink grape juice?

James: 3. Deacons/I Timothy 3:8

Seth: This verse says that deacons shouldn't be addicted to wine. What is your point? You can drink wine without being addicted.

James: Leaders should not encourage others to drink. (Habakkuk 2:15-16)

Seth: Did you read this verse? It is speaking of drunkenness. I don't remember the last time I saw someone sip on some wine at dinner and then get naked. Maybe our experiences have been different.

James also lists off Isaiah 5:11 & Proverbs 31:4,5

Seth:

1. Isaiah 5:11
Again, this is speaking of pursuing strong drink and being inflamed with wine, both showing an uncontrollable urge with drinking instead of fearing the Lord. Again, context. Look at verse 12...these people cared more about getting drunk than keeping the deeds of the Lord.

2. Proverbs 31:4-5

Again, keep reading. I never have known people to forget what they have said, when drinking in moderation. This again, is speaking of the dangers of getting drunk. Verse 5 speaks of someone forgetting what is decreed and perverting the rights of the afflicted. Again, drunk, not simply drinking.

James: * in ancient times, wine (as we would call it) was mixed with water in an eight-to-one mixture for purification purposes. The Bibles word wine does not have the same connotation as alcoholic beverages. When water purification was a problem, people would add crushed composites of a grape-type syrup called wine for the purpose of purifying water from parasites. When the Bible talks about wine it is not talking about intoxicating substance at all; it is speaking of treated water in some instances.

Seth: Where did you find this material? I have heard this to try and be explained, but just read the Bible to find it to be false. Because I find it interesting that you keep saying that the wine was not intoxicating, yet you just listed off many verses that speak of wine being intoxicating, making one forget, perverting justice, being a mockery, etc. So, which is it? Intoxicating or not?

James: In reference to spiritual leaders read I Timothy 3:3- Not given to wine...

Seth: Do you know what "given" means? It is the Greek word "paroinos" which means addicted or drunk. So, this isn't speaking of abstinence either.

James: More of what scripture says:
1. Condemns drunkenness/Eph. 5:18

Seth: We are speaking of drinking alcohol at all, not getting drunk. I agree that to get drunk is wrong.

James: 2. Warning/Pro. 23:19-21

Seth: Be consistant. It also speaks of gluttons here. So, are you going to abstain from food too? Just because some abuse it doesn't mean that you MUST abstain. Your logic is very flawed at this point.

James: 3. Recommended to go ahead and drink wine. Don't think this is a loop-hole. I Timothy 5:23- In this verse where wine is mentioned it is commended for medicinal use. Because of the condition of the water in that day, it is believed that Timothy suffered from infirmities relating to his stomach and intestines. so Paul told Timothy to use a little wine for his stomachs sake. Again, this instruction was related to the syrupy grape juice mixed in with water for purification and medicinal purposes.

Seth: This does nothing for your point. This same term of "oinos" which is the same term that people could get drunk on in Ephesians 5:18. Again, I will trust the original Greek instead of your thoughts on the matter.

James: Scripture warns of Alcohols dangers.
1. It hastens ruin/Pro. 23:31-32
2. It enflames lust/Pro. 23:33
3. Destroys families/Genesis 9:20-25

Seth: Correction. This isn't the dangers of alcohol, this is the dangers of the abuse of alcohol. There are also dangers of eating too much and overindulging in money as well (greed) are we supposed to abstain from these as well? How do you get around this?

James: Is today's wine the same as Bible times?
1. No it is not. The majority of the O.T. usages of the word wine comes from a Hebrew word that means "boiling up". Does that sound like intoxicating beverages, yes it does. But that is not what it means. "Boiling up" comes from the idea of boiling grape juice into heavy syrup to use as a mixture in water.

Seth: According to actual scholars in this area, which I quoted to you before, you are not correct here. The Hebrew word that is used speaks of being drunk with wine...again, how do you get drunk from grape juice? I mean, you just quoted a lot of OT verses where people get drunk, is this supposed to be people overindulging in grape juice? Just wondering. Also, for your information, the noun used in the Septuigant for the Hebrew word for "wine" was translated into the Greek as...yep...oinos. The same that is used throughout the NT.

James: Proverbs 23:30- They that tarry long at the wine; they go to seek mixed wine.

According to this verse, some people would drink to much of this mixture deliberately seeking to become intoxicated; but the original intent was for water purification. The second Greek word used for wine simply means "nonintoxicating syrup". We often read about wine in the Bible. When Jesus turned the water into wine, I do not believe that he turned the water into rotten grape juice(fermented wine)that would intoxicate any who drank it. He turned the water into a safe, purified, and refreshing beverage that was non alcoholic. I believe in John 2 when the scripture speaks of Jesus' good wine, it speaks of the drinks mildness as a water like substance. In ancient times the process of fermentation may have begun because of lack of refrigeration. Today's wines, beers, and mixed drinks are highly intoxicating and very dangerous for families, and they are processed to be such. This is definitely different from what the Bible refers to when it teaches about wine.

I hope this enough scripture and evidence for you Seth.
James

Seth: This is completely unfounded with what we find in the Scriptures. The original Greek could not be more clear in this area. Context and the many usages of wine speak of us enjoying wine in heaven (Isaiah 25:6-9; Jeremiah 31:12-14), that wine was given to us for our joy (Judges 9:13; Zechariah 10:7; Ecc 10:19) and that Christ drank this wine at the Last Supper and turned the water into wine at Cana. The warning is that this same wine, this same "oinos", if overindulged is a sin and is very dangerous. We see this in many other ways in the Bible with food, sex, money, anger and the tongue. But we are not told to abstain from eating, sex, making money, righteous anger or talking. Why do you think it is okay to present a double standard where your logic is completely fallacious? If you think it is wrong to drink because it leads to drunkenness, which is exactly what all of the verses you listed are saying, you then better live consistantly and stop having sex with your wife, stop eating, making money or talking.

At least be consistant.

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