Category: Discipleship

Respectable Sins: Impatience & Irritability | Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins11 Comments

This week we are going to take up the subject of impatience and irritability. In order to do them both justice, I will look at impatience today and irritability in my next post in this series. Let’s start by defining impatience.

Impatience Defined

“A strong sense of annoyance at the (usually) unintentional faults and failures of others.”[1]

Notice Jerry Bridges uses the word unintentional faults and failures. These are things that people cannot help given their life circumstances or physical limitations.

For example, if someone’s hearing is bad, we should expect to have to repeat ourselves, or that that they will misunderstand us. When those things occur, we should not become impatient.

There are other unintentional faults or failures that should not cause us to be impatient, but often do, such as:

  • People not running on your time schedule.
  • Traffic / Slow drivers.
  • Parents impatient with their children not learning what they want them to learn quickly.

The Heart Sin Impatience Reveals

The sin of impatience reveals our desire to be in control by desiring others to conform to our expectations. If that is true, then the events in our lives are not necessarily the things that cause impatience, they are just the means by which the sin of control is manifested in our lives.

The Environment Conducive to Impatience

Impatience often, but not always, manifests itself in our homes. While it is easy for us to be patient with those in public places, it can be difficult at times to exercise the same patience with those under our own roof.

Why is this so?

Our homes provide us with a certain level of comfort. The environment and the people are not new to us. We know them and what they think about us. We don’t worry so much about our appearance or even winning them over. Our increased comfort often allows our true character to shine forth. This is why, like it or not, the home is a great place for sanctification.

What does Scripture have to say?

There are several scriptures that speak to impatience. Let’s take a look at them now.

1 Corinthians 13:4

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant”

1 Thessalonians 5:14

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Ephesians 4:1-2

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Colossians 3:12-15

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

Scripture reveals impatience is a sin. When we are impatient, we are not loving, we are not manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit, we are not living in a manner worthy of our calling, and we are not acting as God’s chosen ones.

How to Deal With Impatience

We can deal with the sin of impatience by praying the Lord would convict us and empower us to rid this sin from our lives.

In addition, when we sense ourselves growing impatient, we should preach the gospel to ourselves. Reminding ourselves, as Paul did Timothy, that in saving us God exercised His patience toward us (1 Timothy 1:16). If God, the Ruler of the universe, exercised patience towards us while we were rebelling against Him, then we can exercise patience toward someone who is not running on our schedule.

Moreover, we need to remind ourselves that God is the One who is in control. The circumstances that occur in our lives are sovereignly brought about and are used by Him to teach us and grow us, even the ones that might give us opportunity to become impatient.

Questions for Reflection

  1. In what area(s) of your life are you impatient?
  2. How have things gone when you have confronted someone who is impatient?
  3. How do you react when people are impatient with you? If you have reacted negatively, what was the result?
  4. Can you think of a reason why in God’s sovereignty He would allow you to encounter an impatient person?

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 116

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What are the Ingredients for Proper Evangelism?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, PracticalLeave a comment

Say you are planning to cook a chicken pasta dish tonight for dinner. In the process of cooking the meal, you forget to add the chicken. When everything is said and done, you will probably have a good pasta dinner, but you will not have the meal you set out to prepare. While our pasta dish will taste fine without the chicken, leaving out an ingredient in our evangelism might not turn out so well.

What are the ingredients to proper evangelism?

There are four main things we need to include in our message:

  1. God
  2. Sin
  3. Christ
  4. A call to repent and believe

Let’s look at these one at a time:

God

God is the Creator. As our Maker, He is also our Ruler. As our Maker and Ruler, He has absolute claim on our lives. We are not only to look to Him for guidance, but we are to also submit to Him and obey His commands.

Sin

Sin tells us that we have rejected God as our Creator and Ruler. In place of His rule, we seek our own.

Sin entered the world at the Fall mankind when Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s rule. As the head of the human race, all who come after them are also plunged into a world of sin and inherit a sinful nature. The result is separation from God. Since He is holy, He cannot have a relationship with an unholy people.

Sin is offensive to God. Not until we understand how offensive sin is to a holy God, and how utterly sinful we are, will we see our need for salvation.

Therein lies the problem of the human race, most people do not believe they are sinful because they measure sin by particular actions. It is easy to see that a murderer is sinful, but a good upstanding citizen, who doesn’t even have a parking ticket; why they are not sinful? The Bible tells us otherwise. In Romans, Paul says, “None is righteous, no, not one; (Rom. 3:10), which means even good people are sinners, whose sin separates them from God.

Sin not only explains why we can’t have a relationship with God, but it also explains why the world is the way it is. Disease, sickness, death, corruption, and all kinds of evil exist because of sin.

Christ

Christ is the Savior of mankind. In order to understand fully Christ’s saving action, we need to know about both His Person and Work. The reason for both is because His cross work was only possible because of His life.

Person: Jesus is the incarnate Son of God who lived a perfect life. Never transgressing one of God’s laws, which allowed Him to be the perfect sacrifice for mankind.

Work: Jesus offered Himself up as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind. In our place He hung. As He did our sins were nailed to the cross with Christ. The Perfect One became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

On the cross, Jesus suffered the wrath and punishment of God. Wrath and punishment that we deserve because of our sinful nature. Since He took our place, He made a way for mankind to be reconciled to God.

Jesus not only died on the cross for our sins, He also raised from the grave after 3 days defeating death. After 40 more days, He ascended into heaven where He know sits on His throne as the King over all. One day He will return to defeat Satan, judge those who did not believe in Him, sentencing them to eternal damnation, renew all things, and rule the world.

All those who believe these things about Jesus will be saved.

A Call to Repent and Believe

While repenting and believing is not a part of the gospel story, it is a necessary ingredient to evangelism because evangelism aims at conversion. So we must call people to repent and believe.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe God is our Creator, or do you believe we were created through an evolutionary process?
  2. How do you determine who is and who is not a sinner?
  3. Why is it necessary for us to know about both Jesus’ person and work?

Resources

Post adapted from: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J.I. Packer, 66-81

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Evangelism Aims at Conversion

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical1 Comment

In my last post, I argued that the Holy Spirit was the one who closes the deal in evangelism. You can read that post here. Even so, knowing the Holy Spirit is the one who closes the deal does not mean we don’t call others to either accept or reject the message. We are not just presenting knowledge for knowledge sake. When we evangelize the lost we are challenging them to accept or reject our message. In other words, evangelism always aims at conversion.

Scripture

Let’s explore a few passages of Scripture to see that this is true.

1 Corinthians 9:19

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.”

 Paul desired to win others to Christ, and we should do the same.

1 Peter 3:1

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,”

One of the reasons given for wives to be submissive to their husbands is so that they might win them to Christ. Through their submission they model Christ’s submission to the Father, presenting to their husbands a picture of Christ’s submission, which led Him to the cross to die for the sins of mankind, so that we might have life.

Luke 5:10

“and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.””

Jesus tells them their role is not to be fishers of the sea, but fishers of men. Their aim was now to be catching men for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:19-20

“that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Paul implores others as an ambassador for Christ to be reconciled to Christ. So then, his evangelism aimed at converting the lost to Christ.

Conversion is Still the Work of the Holy Spirit

Even though we implore others to be reconciled to Christ, challenging them and calling them to repent, we rest in the finished work of the Holy Spirit, knowing He is the one who ultimately brings about repentance. 

What Conversion is Not

Converting the lost is not calling them to take up our religious actions – We are calling for heart change, which only happens through the work of the Holy Spirit as they are converted from a life of sin to a life in Christ.

Converting the lost is not getting them to come to church with us – Again, we are after a real commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There are many God fearing, but unconverted people who attend church.

Converting the lost is not helping someone out of financial trouble – While that may give us inroads to present the gospel to them, helping someone get back on their feet doesn’t mean they have been converted to Christianity.

Converting the lost is not helping someone overcome an addiction – Even though that may help them get in the right mind to hear the gospel, getting clean is not a conversion.

What Converting the Lost Involves

Converting the lost involves calling someone to repent of their sins, turn from their rebellion against God, and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It involves helping others recognize that their relationship with God has been severed because of their sin, and it cannot be reconciled apart from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. So then, converting the lost aims at conversion to a life in Christ, which is always evangelism’s aim.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe there is another aim to evangelism besides conversion to Christ?
  2. How might you define conversion?
  3. Can you think of other things conversion is not?

Resource

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Whose Job is it to Convert the Lost?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical2 Comments

Whose job is it to convert the lost? That is a good question. One that is worth answering for reasons we will get to in a minute. But before we do, let’s deal with the question at hand:

Whose job is it to convert the lost?

Scripture is clear. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who does the converting.

Titus 3:5

“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” 

John 3:5-8

“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” 

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

1 Peter 1:1-2

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

The common thread running through each of these verses is that the Holy Spirit converts the lost to Christ. He is the One who works on their heart, changes their desires, breaks their will, and turns them to Christ. He is the One who raises the dead to life. He is the One who breaks the bondage of sin. He is the One who closes the deal, not us.

Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit’s work in conversion does not mean we don’t proclaim the gospel, we do. We are not off the hook for evangelizing the lost. God has always used His people to bring the gospel to others. He just doesn’t require us to close the deal. He does that Himself.

2 Important Reasons for Knowing the Holy Spirit Converts

(1) Emotional manipulation is not God’s way

There are many books and classes you can take on evangelism that will provide you with techniques to win someone to Christ. These techniques often involve emotional manipulation. However, emotional manipulation is not God’s way of converting the lost, so it should not be our way either.

Emotional manipulation does not usually result in long-term conversion. We all know, or have experienced ourselves, the junior high student who goes off to youth camp, has an emotional experience, commits their life to Christ, vowing to live differently when they return. But the effect doesn’t last more than a few weeks or a month at best. What happened? Emotional manipulation or peer pressure happened, but real heart change didn’t.

Instead of numbers to throw out at our worship services, we should be after real conversions that are the product of real heart change. If we want this to occur, we have to faithfully present the gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to work on the person’s heart instead of using emotional manipulation.

(2) Freedom

In what ways does knowing that the Holy Spirit does the converting give us freedom?

  • We are free to make a mistake when we are talking with others about the gospel.
  • We are free to say we don’t know the answer to their question.
  • We are free to share as much of the gospel as we can at any given time and rest in the fact that God will use our efforts.
  • We are free knowing we are not the one who has to close the deal.

Prior to pastoring, I was in sales. Before each client meeting, I would learn as much about my client as possible, rehearse my sales pitch, and pray I did not mess things up, since closing the deal relied solely on my abilities. If I did not make a good impression, couldn’t answer their questions, or did not present a plausible case for why they should use my product, the deal would not be closed and my bonus would suffer.

It is not like that with evangelism. The Holy Spirit works despite our inadequacies. He works even though we couldn’t answer all the objections. He works even if our gospel presentation was poor. He works because He is the One who does the converting. And knowing the Holy Spirit is the One who closes the deal gives us great freedom.

Questions for Reflection

  1. What techniques do those who believe they have to close the deal in conversion often employ? Are these techniques biblical? Do they produce lasting effect?
  2. How does knowing that the Holy Spirit closes the deal change your approach to evangelism?
  3. Have you personally witnessed the Holy Spirit using your inadequate gospel proclamation to bring others to Christ? Would you share that story with the rest of us?

Resources

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How do you know when you are evangelizing?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical3 Comments

When I was in seminary we had to take a class on Evangelism. Part of our assignment was to go out an evangelize. We had to comb the neighborhood, mall, bus station, or wherever, in order to share the gospel with someone. While I did not see anyone come to Christ through my efforts, there were others in class who did.

As we geared up for the assignment, the question that came up was: How do we know when we have evangelized someone? That is the question I want to answer today.

How do we know when we are evangelizing?

Scripture makes it clear that we are evangelizing when we speak the good news of the gospel to others.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul was sent to preach the gospel. There he says,

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

In Matthew 28:19-20, we find Jesus’ great commission. There He says,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

In Romans 10:14-15, Paul says,

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!

The common thread running through these verses is that we must actually speak to another person the truths of the gospel. If we are doing anything else, we are not evangelizing.

So then, we are not evangelizing when we:

  • Have a conversation about spiritual matters, but not about the gospel
  • Hand out gospel tracks
  • Help someone out
  • Work for social justice
  • Live in a manner consistent with Scripture

All of these things can provide in-roads to talk about the gospel with others, but they are not in and of themselves gospel proclamation.

Evangelism occurs when we verbally proclaim the gospel to others.

Evangelism is not bringing others to faith

If evangelism is the proclaiming of the gospel to others, that means that we don’t have to see someone come to faith in Christ in order to count that as evangelism. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 says,

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

It is our responsibility to spread and water the gospel seed. It is God who brings the growth. We are not responsible for changing someone’s heart because we can’t, only God can do that.

Word of Encouragement

Knowing that evangelism takes place when we speak the gospel to others should:

1. Motivate us to spread God’s Word – No one is saved through the results (Godly Living, Mercy Ministries, etc) of the gospel. Instead they must actually hear God’s good news proclaimed.

2. Free us from beating ourselves up – It is not our fault if someone does not believe. God is the one who brings the growth. We are the one’s who are called to faithfully spread and water the seeds of the gospel.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe the gospel is spread through your actions or through the preached Word?
  2. How do you enter into conversation with others about the gospel?
  3. Do you find acts of mercy to be a good way to gain credibility to speak with others about the gospel?
  4. What mercy ministries have been effective for making in-roads to gospel proclamation at your church?

Resource

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Respectable Sins: Self-Control | Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins1 Comment

This week, I am focusing on the Respectable Sin of Self-Control. In my last post, I dealt with self-control with our temper. In this post, personal finances will be the main subject.

Personal Finances

Christians, along with the rest of the nation, are in financial debt. One statistic said that on average Americans are in 7,000 dollars worth of credit card debt [1]. That tells us that as a nation, we are not exercising self-control when it comes to our finances. Instead, we are indulging our desires with new clothes, the latest electronic gadgets, expensive vacations, etc. By buying these things, we are going into more debt.

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Consumers consume hoping it will satisfy, but it doesn’t. Instead it leaves us empty, and wanting more to fill that void, so we buy more. We do so under the false notion that our next purchase will be what we need to fill us up, but it doesn’t either. Instead massive debt piles up as we try and fill a void only Christ can fill.

Why is it important we exercise self-control?

If we do not exercise self-control, then our desires end up controlling us rather than us controlling our desires. As well as Scripture commands us to exercise self-control. Here are a few verses:

  • Proverbs 25:28
  • Galatians 5:22-23
  • 2 Timothy 3:3
  • Titus 2:2,5,6
  • Titus 2:11-12
  • 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8
  • 2 Peter 1:5

For those reasons, it is important we exercise self-control.

Is debt the only sign that a person lacks self-control? 

No, those who are affluent also fall into this category. A lack of self-control does not necessarily correlate with our bank accounts.

How do we know that we lack self-control in our finances?

We know we lack self-control in our finances when we indulge ourselves in whatever our hearts desire.

How do we rid ourselves of this sin?

The writer of Ecclesiastes helps when he says,

“I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ec 2:1–11)

The writer of Ecclesiastes teaches us that indulging ourselves is vanity. It will not provide us with the joy we are seeking. The only thing that will provide us with true joy and satisfaction is Christ.

How can we exercise self-control?

Jerry Bridges wisely says,

“Biblical self-control is not a product of one’s own natural will power”[2].

That is because it requires us to exercise self-control in all areas of life. While we may be able to exercise self-control in certain areas in order to gain something, it is impossible for us to do so in our own power in every area of our lives. For example, an athlete exercises self-control with their diet in order to perform better, but they may not exercise self-control in their spending habits.

So then, how do we exercise self-control in every area of our lives? Only through the power of the Holy Spirit and a continual exposure to the Word of God are we able to exercise self-control in every area of our lives. You see, self-control “requires an unceasing conflict with the passions of the flesh that wage war against our souls (see 1 Peter 2:11)”[3]. The only way we can consistently exercise that level of self-control is by the influence and enablement of the Holy Spirit. This lead Jerry Bridges to say,

“Continual exposure of our mind to the Word of God and continual prayer for the Holy Spirit to give us both the desire and power to exercise self-control [is required]. We might say that self-control is not control by oneself through one’s own willpower but rather control of oneself through the power of the Holy Spirit”[4].

Questions for Reflection

  1. What do you believe Americans buy that get themselves into such massive debt? Why do they buy these things?
  2. Does your shopping habits reveal a lack of self-control when it comes to your finances?
  3. What do you hope excessive spending will provide for you?

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 113.
[2] Ibid., 110.
[3] Ibid., 111.
[4] Ibid.

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