Category: Practical

Gospel Witness through Community Unity

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Practical5 Comments

Church in the City

John 17 is known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. He prays that:

  1. The Father would glorify Him in His mission (1-3).
  2. The Father would return Him to glory at the end of His mission (4-8).
  3. The Father would protect His representatives in the world (9-15).
  4. His representatives would be holy in the world (16-19).
  5. His representatives would be unified as they are on mission (20-23).
  6. His disciples would join Him in glory (24).
  7. His disciples would live and act as He did when He was in the world (25-26).

Seven things he prays in His High Priestly Prayer. I want us to focus in on His fifth petition. It comes in verses 20-23.

Let’s read verse 20:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

Throughout history the gospel has been spread, people have believed and passed that message on, and that process has continued all the way up to today, making believers along the way, including many of you reading this right now. With that in mind, the first thing this verse reveals is that Jesus prays not only for His current disciples, but also for us.

The second thing this verse reveals is that Jesus’ disciples are to be on His mission. What does that mission involve? It involves making disciples. How do we best go about calling others to be Jesus’ disciples? The remainder of His fifth petition gives us an idea.

How do we make disciples?

Disciples are made primarily through our verbal witness. The proclamation of the gospel tells others of the hope that is in us. Proclamation, however, is not all that is required. Disciples are also made through our community witness. How? Let’s look at verse 21.

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

We act as a witness to the gospel by the way we relate to one another. Why? Verse 22 and 23a hold the answer.

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one,

Two things we see here:

(1) True unity requires heart change.

Change which only occurs by the gospel piercing our hearts.

(2) True heart change through the gospel allows us to image or reflect the Trinity for the first time ever.

Imaging the Trinity means that we love one another as the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. It also means that we will be unified with one another as the Father and Son are unified.

The unity we show by imaging the Trinity allows us to act as a witness to the world for the gospel. Look a the remainder of verse 23.

so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

When we are unified with one another, we not only give credence to our verbal witness, but we also act as a witness to a completely different way of life. Life that can only be lived through true heart change by the gospel.

So then, our community witness speaks just as our verbal witness does. One cannot be had without the other. If the community is not unified, then their verbal witness will not hold much weight. If a community doesn’t give a verbal witness, then those around them will not know why they are different. Both need to be present.

Unity takes work

Unity doesn’t come without work. Jesus knows that, which is why He prays His disciples would be unified. The work it requires though is worth it because it allows us to accomplish our mission in the world.

How do we become unified?

(1) We must first allow the gospel to pierce our hearts.

The gospel must change our hearts from a heart of stone to one that is gripped by the gospel.

(2) After that has taken place, we must continue to reflect on the gospel. 

The love Jesus showed us by dying for us must constantly be preached to ourselves. Reminding ourselves of His love, should spur a desire in us to love others in the same way Christ loved us, selflessly.

If everyone in the community selflessly loves one another, we will see a unity, a oneness, we, or this world, has never known before.

Challenge

So let’s love each other like we have never loved each other before, so that we may experience unity as we have never seen before, so that we may be a witness to our community for Christ. That is Jesus’ prayer, and that is my prayer as well.

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How Does Jesus’ Temptation Apply to Us?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

Cross in Desert

Matthew 3 presents John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for His ministry. Part of this preparation involved John baptizing Jesus. At His baptism, Jesus receives the Holy Spirit to empower and lead Him. The first thing the Holy Spirit leads Jesus to do is to go into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.

Why did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted by Satan?

There are many reasons Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted, but Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us Jesus was tempted so He could sympathize with our weaknesses.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Isn’t it comforting to know that our Savior knows what we are going through when we are being tempted? He knows exactly what we are experiencing, what we are going through, because He too was tempted.

So the next time you are facing temptation, know your Lord and Savior understands what you are going through. Since He understands, we can come to Him in our time of need. We don’t need to be ashamed. Instead we need to reach out to Him, asking Him to help us face our temptation.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you feel you can draw near to Jesus when you are tempted, or do you feel ashamed and push Him away?

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Respectable Sins: Anger | Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins5 Comments

Angry Birds

In the last post in this series, I answered the question: What is the cause of sinful anger? Today I will look at how we are to respond when others sin against us.

How to Respond When Others Sin Against Us

When others sin against us, we can respond in one of two ways. We can:

  1. Get angry
  2. We can respond by being mindful of God

Instead of anger, we should be mindful of God. Peter gives this advice to a slave who has an unjust master.

In 1 Peter 2:18-20 he writes,

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”

What does it mean to be mindful of God?

Being mindful of God means that we are to think of God’s will and His glory instead of our will and our glory. Instead of getting angry and blowing up on another, we relax, take a deep breath, and think about our Christian witness. In order to do this we have to see God’s glory as more important than our own.

Admittedly, keeping God’s glory supreme is difficult. For that reason, Jerry Bridges provides a few questions we can ask to keep ourselves mindful of God:

  1. How would God have me respond in this situation?
  2. How can I best glorify God by my response?
  3. Do I believe that this difficult situation or this unjust treatment is under the sovereign control of God and that in His infinite wisdom and goodness He is using these difficult circumstances to conform me more to the likeness of Christ? (see Rom. 8:28; James 1:2-4)

By being mindful of God, we can better deal with our anger when others sin against us. So the next time you are tempted to blow up on another, keep your witness and God’s glory in mind.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you mindful of God when others sins against you?
  2. Do you have God’s glory in mind or your own pride?
  3. Can you think of a situation where you were mindful of God and it served as an effective witness?

Looking Forward

In the next post in this series, I will talk about how we show our anger.

Resources

Post adapted from Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 121-28

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Respectable Sins: Anger | Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins4 Comments

Angry Birds

In the last post in this series, I defined anger, talked about one form of anger, which is righteous anger, and gave an example. Today we move on to sinful anger, discussing its cause.

What is the Cause of Sinful Anger?

Is should be said first that others are not the cause of our anger. No one causes us to be angry. The actions or words of others are just an occasion for anger to surface. The cause of anger is our own pride, selfishness, or desire to be in control.

Examples

It may be helpful to look at a few examples. As we do, help me pick out the underlying cause of anger in each.

Example #1

You agree to come and speak at a gathering at my house this Friday. I have told all my friends you are going to be there, but then when Friday rolls around, the appointment slips your mind and you don’t show up. The next day you call to apologize, and I jump all over you.

What is the cause of my anger? 

The cause of my anger is pride because you made me look bad in front of my friends.

Example #2 

You hear that someone in the church gossiping about you. When you find out whom, you approach them, but instead of approaching them lovingly, you blow up and start yelling.

What is the cause of your anger?

Again, the cause of your anger is pride, which results from your character and reputation being questioned.

Example #3 

At church, there is vote on whether to move the Sunday service time from 11am to 10:30am. When the vote is tallied, you lose, and the service is moved to 10:30am despite your objection. When you realize you lost, you become angry.

What is the cause of your anger?

Your anger could be caused by a number of underlying sins: a desire to be in control, your selfishness, or your pride.

What Does this Tell Us?

This simple exercise tells us our anger, while provoked by others, is not ultimately caused by them. It is caused by our own sinfulness. As well as we learn there are underlying sins – control, selfishness, and pride. It is appropriate to restrain ourselves when provoked, but if we want to kill the sin of anger, we must deal with these other sins as well.

Question for Reflection

  1. What often causes you to become angry? Is it a desire to be in control, selfishness, or pride?

Looking Forward

In the next post in this series, I will provide a way we can respond when others sin against us.

Resources

Post adapted from Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 121-28

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Respectable Sins: Anger | Part 1

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

Angry Birds

This week we continue working through Jerry Bridges’ book Respectable Sins. The respectable sin for this week is anger. Let’s get started by defining anger.

Anger Defined

Anger is defined as:

A strong feeling of displeasure and usually antagonism often accompanied by sinful emotions, words, and actions hurtful to those who are the object of our anger.

Righteous Anger

One form of anger is righteous anger. We would like to think this is the form of anger we often exercise, but most of the time it’s not. How do we know? We can employ two tests to see if our anger is righteous.

Two Tests

First, do we perceive the action of another as true evil that is a violation of God’s moral law?

If we do see it as a violation of God’s moral law, we should be concerned about God and His will, not concerned about ourselves and our will. In other words, is our focus on God and His will or on me and my will?

Second, are you in control when you are angry?

Those who are angry for righteous reasons are not out of control. They do not lose their temper, nor do they seek vengeance.

Conclusion of Two Tests

I believe when we employ these two tests, we find our anger is not as righteous as we first thought. Even if we are “reacting to another person’s real sin that does not necessarily make our anger righteous. We are likely more concerned with the negative impact of the sinful actions on us than we are that it is a violation of God’s law. Or we may even use the fact that it is a violation of God’s law to justify our own sinful angry response.”[1] If either of these cases are true, then our anger is not righteous anger, but sinful.

An Example of Righteous Anger

Jesus cleansing the temple is an example of righteous anger. Look with me at the following two verses.

John 2:13-17

“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”” 

Mark 11:15-17

“And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

When we apply the test above to Jesus’ actions, we see that: 

  • Jesus had a valid concern for the Lord’s will – He did not want the temple to be a den of robbers, but a house of prayer.
  • Jesus did not retaliate in a vengeful way.
  • Jesus is self-controlled.
  • Jesus did not lose His temper.

We can conclude that Jesus’ actions were done in righteous anger.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Can you think of sins others commit that would cause us to be more concerned with the negative impact on us than on God?
  2. Have you ever used others violation of God’s law as a way to justify your own sinful anger?

Looking Forward

The next post in this series will deal with sinful anger and its causes.

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 122.

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Free eBook for Advent 2012

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Books, Discipleship, PracticalLeave a comment

Advent is here! For four weeks leading up to Christmas in December, we remember the thousand’s of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the Messiah.

1 Peter 1:10-12 provides a description of what we look back to during Advent.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

To assist you this Advent season in reflecting back on God’s promise of a coming Messiah, I recommend John Piper’s book Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent. You can download a free ebook here.

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